The Digimon Omnibus: Piedmon's Absolution
by Hathis
Summary: In an alternate digital world, a group of kids are thrown together to fight against the ever growing powers of Devimon and the evil digidestined, while trying to unravel the mysterious past.
1. Prologue and The Road Less Travelled

Welcome to the Digimon Omnibus, a recreation of all five seasons of Digimon with an edgier feel, philosophical references, Royal Knights, evil digidestined, and all that good stuff. Read, review (which is probably the most important part), and enjoy (even if you don't, still review; I'm fine with flames, they amuse me). Note: TDOPA is currently in the process of being revised (by myself and hopefully in the near future by my new beta reader Oapekay) for grammar, plot holes, and general quality. So if you see some inconsistencies, chances are I'm going to fix them in my revision process. Feel free to PM me and tell me if you've seen something worth noting (or just review: you can't get enough of those).

**Prologue **

**The Digital World**

The woods were quiet; the only noise was the rustling of leaves as a small creature marched through the woods. The creature, which could best be described as a pink blob with four stubby legs and long, jagged ears, carried the name Tokomon, and was a creature known as a Digimon, a digital monster. The young Digimon was alone and frightened; its only goal was to find its friends. Earlier they had been separated by a loud explosion a few miles away.

Tokomon had fled in panic, not thinking about the others. Now it was really worried. They were defenseless in these woods; the Elecmon who was supposed to take care of them ran off to find some food for the group and never returned. His friend Nyaromon said that Elecmon was probably captured by the humans, but another friend, Koromon, had reassured him otherwise.

Just as Tokomon began to gather himself, he heard a branch breaking a few feet to his left. He quickly turned around and saw a sight that horrified him; Guardromon, a metal Digimon best described as a squat submarine with arms, legs, and eyes, was staring down at him. A thin human boy, dressed in a black t-shirt and a visor blocking Tokomon's view of his short brown hair, was leaning against a tree next to his partner Digimon.

"Get him, Guardromon", the human said as he stared emotionlessly at the small creature. Tokomon tried to flee, but the Guardromon was too fast for him. He quickly snatched the small Digimon with his cold, steel hand and refused to let go. Tokomon struggled violently, but he knew it was hopeless. Guardromon then opened his right fist and revealed a thin, dark needle. It was so short that had Tokomon never seen it before, he might think it was harmless.

However he knew the destructive nature of this needle, and what it did to the humans who were stuck by it. He remembered the humans that had come to the digital world, they and their Digimon partners who had tried so valiantly to protect him, his friends, and the entire island, until each of them fell to the power of the dark needle. The boy whose partner had just captured him was one of those digidestined.

A crash suddenly rocked the forest. Guardromon had been knocked to his knees. Tokomon was being swept up by some majestic creature, but the stress of the situation was overwhelming to Tokomon. "Thank you." Was the only thing he could mutter before blacking out from exhaustion. Meanwhile the wolf-like creature dashed through the forest, his comrade weak in his arms. _I need to correct this, _he thought to himself. _I need to stop this destruction. I need the Digidestined._

**The Digimon Omnibus: Piedmon's Absolution**

**Chapter One: The Road Less Travelled**

**Shiokaze Park**

**Odaiba, Koto Ward: Tokyo Japan**

**Sunday, May 16th, 2006**

"Watch Out!" Taichi Kamiya screamed to his sister, warning her of the projectile speeding towards her. Fortunately Kari dodged in time. The soccer ball that Tai had kicked so ferociously whizzed by her hair and slammed into the tree behind her, instead of smashing into her face due to Tai's eccentricity.

"Sorry about that Kari," Tai said embarrassed, "I guess I got a little excited".

"That's okay Tai," Kari said empathetically, "I know you're just really excited about the finals next week. Just try not to hit me next time, okay?" she laughed. Kari, a young girl with brown hair and a whistle and small pink scarf draped around her neck, was helping her brother practice for the Junior High Soccer finals, in which her older brother by four years, Tai, was the star player on one of the teams. 12 year old Tai, a brown spiky haired boy with large blue goggles snapped onto his forehead, had been too nervous to just sit around the house doing his homework, so he roped his little sister into helping him practice at the local park.

Kari kicked the ball back to Tai and continued the practice. As the ball was heading towards him, Tai rushed forward and kicked the ball with his heel. The ball flew past Kari by a few feet and dove into the trees beyond the field. "Aw crap," he sighed, "I'm too nervous. On Saturday five people are going to go home with broken noses and I'm going to jail for armed assault with a soccer ball."

"Calm down, Tai, you're never going to get any good practice in if you keep psyching yourself out. Come on, let's go find the ball".

"Yeah, yeah," Tai grumbled as the pair started walking into the woods. As they searched for the ball, Kari suddenly stopped. "What's wrong, Kari?" Tai questioned.

"You hear something, Tai?"

"Hear what?"

"It sounds like, water. Like the ocean."

"That's ridiculous; we're miles away from the nearest river. I think you're hearing things Kari." Tai started walking again but suddenly heard a whooshing noise. "What the…" He never finished his sentence. He turned around only in time to catch a glimpse of blue as a wave of water swallowed him and his sister.

* * *

Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi was waiting patiently for the next train. With his laptop to entertain him, he was completely preoccupied by his new computer program to notice the events around him. With his spiky red hair hanging partially over the short boy's face, he failed to notice that suddenly all of the people in the station decided to leave. Nor did he notice the girl in a white t-shirt and blue jeans that pushed through the departing crowd and took a seat next to him; and if she hadn't snapped him out of his trance he wouldn't have noticed the train pulling into the terminal either.

"Hey!" The red head ponytailed girl called, causing Izzy to snap his computer shut and shoot his head up in attention, "Is this your train?" She asked.

"Yeah, thanks." Izzy thanked her as he packed up his computer and marched onto the train.

"Whatever." The girl shrugged and entered the compartment, with Izzy close behind. Izzy took a seat on the opposite side of the car from the ponytailed girl as the rest of the passengers exited. The doors then closed and the vehicle was off, down the subway corridors towards downtown Kyoto.

"Do you hear something" Izzy heard the girl ask. He lifted his head up in time to see a wall of blue suddenly materialize in the car, which proceeded to engulf the girl and then rage towards him. He screamed in panic, but it was only a few seconds before the volatile waters captured him as well.

* * *

"Hey Matt, what's a PCU?" Takeru Ishida, or T.K., a short 8 year old with blond hair and covered head to toe in green clothes (including a green hat), asked his 12 year old brother. Yamoto Ishida, or Matt, another spiky headed boy with blond hair and a sleeveless green shirt, was walking along side him on their way home.

"It's just another word for computer, T.K., why?" Matt responded.

"I heard my teacher talking about it." T.K. replied.

"Hey you see that?" Matt asked, indicating to a glowing light in the trees next to the sidewalk. The pair was walking through a fairly wooded area that had a large dried riverbed running through it. The riverbed contained the light Matt was pointing to. "I'll go check it out; you stay here, okay T.K."

"Alright, but hurry up; I think I saw those bullies a few minutes back."

"Don't worry, I just want to make sure no one's hurt down there, I'll be right back." Matt said to T.K. before heading off into the woods. T.K. then sat down and began to wait. He sat for 10 minutes before beginning to wonder what was taking his brother so long. He thought about waiting so longer, but then thought about the school bullies that were probably walking his way now, so he decided to head off towards his brother.

T.K. stomped through the woods for a few minutes, looking for Matt. Suddenly he stepped on a ledge and fell into the riverbed below. He was mostly unharmed, aside from a small pain in his backside, so he got up and restarted the search for his brother. Before he could continue, however, a wall of blue water appeared in the riverbed and swallowed him.

**The Digital World**

"Hey, hey, can you hear me?" Tai heard a faint voice as he slowly drifted out of his slumber. As he opened his eyes, he saw the outline of a young boy dressed in green. "Are you ok?" he asked.

"K-Kari?" he muttered.

"Who's Kari?"

As Tai regained consciousness, he began to notice his surroundings. He was in a tropical jungle, yet it was quite spacious. Next to him was the young boy who raised him out of his slumber. "Who are you?" Tai said inquisitively.

"My name's T.K. What's yours?"

"Tai: where are we?"

"Some kind of jungle I guess, who's Kari?"

"Oh no, Kari, where is she?" Tai asked as he jumped up in fear. "I've got to find her, I've got to find my sister."

"Your sister?"

"Yeah, have you seen her? She's probably as tall as you, and she has a pink scarf around her neck."

"No, I haven't, I've been looking for my brother. He went off into the woods and when I went to look for him, and the next thing I knew I was here.

"That's the same thing that happened to me and Kari. We were looking for our soccer ball in the woods, and we heard what sounded like water, and then I woke up here."

"Maybe we should look for Matt and Kari together." T.K. suggested.

"That's a good idea, especially since we don't know where we are, and you're just a young kid."

"Hey I can take care of myself!" T.K. said angrily. "On second thought I don't think I need your help."

"Hey calm down, little guy, I was agreeing with you."

"Yeah, whatever, let's go look. I'm sure my brother and your sister are around here somewhere. I hope."

Tai and T.K. set off into the woods, searching for their lost siblings. After an hour of searching, they decided to take a rest. Before they stopped, however, they heard a groan from the depths of the forest. They forced their way into the thicket the sound came from, hoping it was Kari or Matt, but what they found was even more surprising. Lying on the ground was a boy lying on the ground, but he wasn't Japanese. This boy had blonde hair and tanned skin.

"Are we in Europe?" Tai questioned.

"Maybe that water washed us to California." T.K. answered.

"That's ridiculous, T.K."

"Oh, and Europe made so much more sense, huh?"

"Enough with the sarcasm we need to make sure that kid is ok." Tai then jumped into the clearing the boy was passed out in, but was in startled as suddenly a pink blob with long ears and a face dropped down onto Tai's head. Tai flew back in surprise and backed into a tree. As he fell to the ground the pink blob looked up at him, having falling onto the ground itself.

"Hi, I'm Koromon." It spoke.

"Ayah!" Tai screamed in fright. "What are you, and… you talk? No, what are you?" Tai was frantic, but his curiosity was getting the better of him, and he began to calm down.

"You're silly," the pink head replied," but I told you, I'm Koromon."

"What's a Koromon?" Tai asked. Before the creature could answer T.K. walked into the clearing.

"Whoa, what's that?" T.K. exclaimed in amazement.

"I'm Koromon," it replied.

"What are you?" Tai asked in disbelief.

"I'm a Digimon of course." Koromon answered.

"A Digi-what?" The two humans asked.

"A Digimon," Koromon sighed, "A digital monster."

"Huh, so are you an animal or… what?" Tai questioned the Koromon.

"I told you, I'm a Digimon. What's so hard to understand about that?" The creature mouthed off. Suddenly the other kid began to awaken from the commotion. Grasping the back of his head in pain, he opened his eyes and looked upon the arguing trio.

"Where am I?" He asked in English. Koromon replied, speaking his name, but the two humans stared at him with confused gazes. Realizing his mistake (but confused about the pink puff ball), he began to speak in Japanese. "Where am I?" He asked this time.

"Uh, we're not exactly sure, I was just hanging out with my little sister, and then we heard what sounded like a wave of water and I ended up here." Tai replied.

"I was looking for my brother Matt, and I heard something like that too," T.K. added, "Did you get hit by a wave?"

"No," the kid replied," I was leaning on a rail, and it broke and I fell into a stream, but I passed out for some reason and woke up with you three. By the way, what's the pink thing?"

"How many times have I got to tell you," Koromon snapped," I'm Koromon, a Digimon. I'm really glad I found you people, though. I thought I was going to be lost in these woods forever."

"What do you mean?" Tai inquired.

"Well I got separated from my friends, and this big metal Digimon named Guardromon was chasing me and I had to hide from him, then I found you guys."

"So there's other Digimon like you?"

"Yeah, but Guardromon's a lot bigger and scarier than me. Oh, I hope he doesn't have my friends."

"Who are your friends?" T.K. asked curiously.

"Well there's Viximon and Gummymon, Motimon, Tokomon, and Nyaromon." They all ran away when we heard this big explosion."

"I don't know what those are, but I'm sorry little guy," Tai empathized, "I can't find my little sister, and T.K. here is looking for his big brother. You haven't seen any other humans around have you?"

"The only humans here are the evil ones."

"What are you talking about-" Tai was cut off by a loud scream deep in the forest. "Oh, no, I think that's Kari!" Tai panicked, "We have to go find her, come on!" Tai leaped from his spot on the ground and dashed off into the forest. T.K. and Koromon chased after him. Realizing he had to figure out where he was, the third kid followed.

"Kari, Kari, where are you!" Tai screamed in panic. The group dashed through the forest for ten minutes before finally stopping from exhaustion. "Kari, please answer me Kari! Kari!"

"Hey, guy!" The third kid addressed Tai, "Who are you looking for?"

"My little sister," Tai answered in a panic, "She got lost in this forest too, I have to find her!"

"Alright just calm down, we'll find her but we just have to think for a second, ok?"

"Don't tell me to calm down, I need to find her." Tai said violently, "She's all alone, and she could be hurt."

"I understand, but if you want to find her we have to act smart. I think I saw a cliff a while back. We can retrace our steps and get up onto that cliff. We'll have a better vantage point to find your sister."

"Right, that sounds like a good idea, I'm just really worried. I can't let anything happen to her."

"It's all right, let's just go back to the cliff and see if we can spot her." The four then began to climb up the slope that led to the cliff. Along the way, the three humans introduced themselves. The third kid was Eric Carter, a 13 year old American living on a U.S. military base in Japan with his parents. They forgot, however, the nonhuman creature hopping along at their heels, until it decided it was being ignored.

"Hey, you three forget about me?" Koromon asked from behind the group. Eric turned around and let out a short scream.

"Ayah! What's that?" Eric panicked.

"That's Koromon, remember?" Tai answered.

"It didn't register with me before that that thing was alive, I was too disoriented."

"Hey I'm not a thing, ok; I'm a Koromon, a Digimon."

"I remember. So do you know where we are, uh, Koromon?"

"Yeah, we're on File Island."

"And where is that?"

"It's in the digiworld, of course."

"The Digiworld?" Tai asked.

"I've never heard of Digiworld." T.K. responded.

"Is it somewhere on Earth?" Eric inquired.

"What's Earth?"

"Uh, it's uh, is that a serious question?"

"Well why wouldn't it be?"

"What is going on here?" Eric said rhetorically.

"Oh yeah, that Earth," Koromon whispered to himself. The group was interrupted by an excited voice farther in the woods.

"Koromon, Koromon, is that you?" A small voice piped out of the brush.

"Ha ha, Motimon, it's you!" Koromon bounced up and down excitedly. Then another small pink Digimon (this one with two small hands instead of ears) rushed out of the bushes.

"Koromon, hey!" The Digimon said excitedly before suddenly shrinking back in horror. "Oh, no humans: Koromon, run!"

"Motimon, it is okay, these ones aren't evil. They're just looking for some friends of theirs."

"Do you think they're digidestined?"

"Well they don't have digivices so I doubt it."

"Oh."

"What are they talking about?" Tai said confused.

"Let's find out," Eric responded, "Hey, Digimon, what are you talking about?"

"Uh, it's nothing important." Koromon smiled. Tai scratched his head for a second, and then returned his hand to his side. When he did so, however, his hand brushed against a bulge in his pocket.

"What the-" Tai reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device that looked like a digital watch without a belt. "What's this thing?"

"No way!" Koromon said excitedly," That's a digivice, which means you're a digidestined.

"A digi-destined?"

"Yeah, that means you're one of the chosen ones. You must be here to save us from Devimon."

"I think you've got the wrong idea; Kari and I were just playing soccer, and then we got knocked out and woke up here. We aren't destined for anything."

Before Koromon could object a girl in jeans and a ponytail ran past them with a small yellow Digimon by its side. "You guy's better run." She stated before fleeing.

"Care to elaborate?" Tai screamed to her as she dashed away. They soon found out on their own, however, as suddenly a red bug two stories tall started smashing through the forest right towards them. After a group scream, the party of five ran off after the girl.

"What is that thing?" Tai screamed as he ran.

"That's, (puff) Kuwagamon, he's a (puff) Digimon that belongs to one of the evil digidestined." Koromon tried to reply. He and Motimon were having a hard time catching up with the rest of the group. Tai and Eric then slowed down and grabbed Koromon and Motimon, respectively, and continued running.

"Alright after we get out of this you're going to have to tell me what's going on." Tai said.

"That's if we get out of this." T.K. said worriedly.

"It will be alright, okay, you just keep running." Eric said, pushing T.K. along. The five hurried along, but suddenly they spotted the girl a few yards ahead of them. She suddenly leaped at a tree, and was gone.

"What just happened?" Tai inquired.

"That's a hiding tree, we can escape in there." Koromon said nervously. The three then leaped into the tree after the girl. They suddenly found themselves in a huge space ten feet in diameter. The girl and the small digimon were waiting in there as well.

"Why did you follow me in here? If he sees us we're dead."

"Well what were we supposed to do?" Tai said angrily.

"You should have sacrificed yourselves so that I could live." She growled.

"Will you shut up, it'll here us." Eric snapped.

"They can't hear us in here, we're totally safe." Motimon assured the group. "By the way, thanks for saving me back there."

"Yeah, no problem; so you two want to tell us what's going on?"

"Yeah, you said that bug was the partner of an evil digidestined. But you called me a digidestined. Are you saying that we're evil?" Tai addressed Koromon.

"No, let me explain." Koromon began, "See, a couple years ago, before me or my friends were born, this really evil Digimon named Devimon took over the island and started enslaving the Digimon here with these weird black gears. Then all of a sudden these humans appeared and partnered with some Digimon. They came to save us. But then before the Digidestined could do anything Devimon made these things called Dark Needles, and when one of them touched a human, it made them evil. Then the Digidestined started attacking us."

"So, can they do that to us, too?" Tai asked.

"Yeah, Devimon can infect any human or Digimon with a Dark Needle, and make them one of his army. But according to Elecmon, if a Digidestined can digivolve their partner to the Champion level, then the Dark Needles become useless."

"Digivolution? What's that?"

"It's when a Digimon gains energy, sometimes by sharing it with a human, and the Digimon changes shape and gets stronger. All of the original Digidestined were hit with Dark Needles before they could get their Digimon to digivolve to Champion."

"So, even if I was a Digidestined, and I'm not saying I am, how would I find this partner Digimon?"

"Would you too just shut up already?" The girl grumbled, "I want to make sure no one is out there."

"Hey, I wanna know about this Digimon stuff. Something weird is going on and I want to find out what. And I need to find my little sister so anything that might help me find her I'm willing to do; even if that means listening to this crap."

"Hey, it's not crap." Koromon complained.

"Sorry, didn't mean it like that."

"Did you say Kari?" Rika suddenly said calmly.

"Yeah, have you seen her?" Tai said excitedly.

"I met a girl named Kari, but we got separated when that Kuwagamon attacked."

"What, we have to go after her!" Tai began to leave the tree.

"Tai, wait, you can't go out there alone." T.K. warned.

"I have to find her, if that bug got her than-" Suddenly the top of the tree exploded into pieces.

"Oh, no, they found us!" The girl cried. "Let's get out of here, now! Come on, Viximon!" She grabbed the Digimon by her side and bolted out the tree. The other three ran after her. Right after they fled the tree it blew to shreds. Standing behind the wreckage was a tall metallic Digimon, with a skinny human dressed in black by his side.

"Agh, it's Guardromon!" Koromon panicked. "He's the one who attacked us before."

"Ayah!" The boys screamed. They didn't notice but the girl had already fled.

"Kill them, Guardromon." The evil digidestined hissed.

"Right." The robot replied.

"Run!" Eric yelled, but before they could move Guardromon blasted away the trees around them and created a dam, blocking their exit.

"What are we going to do?" T.K. said frightened.

"I, I don't know T.K." Tai replied. Guardromon then lifted his arm, complete with cannon, and aimed at the group.

"Goodbye." He said calmly. Suddenly the digivice in Tai's pocket began to glow, and then a light in Eric's pocket began to glow as well. Both Guardromon and the evil digidestined were startled, but before they could react, Koromon and Motimon began glowing, and then leaped out of Tai and Eric's hands.

"What the-" the two said simultaneously. Koromon and Motimon then began to grow, and when they stopped glowing, a small yellow raptor-like dinosaur and a large red beetle appeared in their place.

"No, They digivolved!" The evil kid said in a partially shocked voice.

"Don't worry," Koromon, now a yellow raptor with an oversized head, said to the kids behind them, "Me and Tentomon will take care of this now. Pepper Breath!" Koromon announced as he launched a fireball from his jaws. The flames crashed into Guardromon's face and temporarily immobilized him.

"Let's get out of here, now!" Tentomon exclaimed. Realizing they should run first and ask questions later, the humans bolted from the scene.

"Get yourself together, Guardromon, we need to catch them!" the evil human said calmly to his partner as the group fled the scene.

"He blinded me. I can't see a thing." The Guardromon whined.

"Agh!"

* * *

"Did you guys hear that?" Kari asked the two boys walking in front of her.

"Yeah," Joe, a lanky 13 year old with short blue hair, responded, "Do you think that could have been your brother over there?"

"I hope it isn't." Kari said worriedly.

"It's going to be okay, Kari, I'm sure we'll find your brother and my friends soon." Said the small yellow head with a tail clutched in her arms.

"I'd like to believe you Nyaromon, but after what you told me about those Dark Needles, I can't help but be worried."

"Hey, from what you told us about your brother, I'm sure he wouldn't allow anyone to take control of him." Izzy reassured her.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," said the Gummymon, a green blob with eyes, that was in his arms.

"I know, I know, you're right. Hey thanks for helping me find my brother, you guys. I'd be lost without you."

"It's no problem, Kari," Izzy began, "we're all lost here, so we need to stick together to find your brother and a way out of here."

"You sure you can't find any clue of where we are with that laptop of yours, Izzy?"Joe inquired.

"No, I'm not getting any internet access, so I can't get any idea of where we are. If I had to guess though, I'd say we were on one of the Pacific Islands."

"Though that doesn't explain how a wave of water came at you through the subway system." Joe reasoned.

"Hey guys! There's something behind us!" Kari yelled. The two boys turned around in time to see three large Digimon chasing after them: a human sized living tree trunk, a massive sea snake, and a humanoid beetle.

"Now would be a good time to run!" Joe yelled. The three started running as fast as they could, and eventually ran into a girl with a tall, bipedal, yellow fox by her side.

"Rika!" Kari piped.

"You have to help us!" Joe screamed. "Those Digimon are back and trying to kill us."

"I don't think I'm gonna be much help!" She announced, and then they noticed the cocoon-like creature with spider legs chasing after her. The four started running again, dashing through the bushes and steams of the forest, until they ran into a cliff ledge with raging waters smashing into the rocks below.

* * *

"Keep running, go-go-go!" Tai yelled to T.K. as the trio ran from the rampaging Guardromon. Now blind, it was relying on the human riding on its back to direct it; and it wasn't worrying too much about what was in front of it as it blasted everything in its path. Tai, T.K., Eric, Koromon, and Tentomon were now running for their lives, but Guardromon was closing the gap. As they ran they spotted another group of kids standing at the edge of a cliff a few yards away. Tai recognized the little girl in the group. "Kari!" He yelled. He turned towards the group and the others followed.

"Turn back!" Kari yelled, but it was too late. The other two groups met up as the evil digimon surrounded them.

"What's going on?" Tai asked panicky.

"You just led yourselves right into a trap." Rika said angrily. Around them the tree, whose name they would learn to be Woodmon, the sea snake named Seadramon, the beetle named Stingmon, the cocoon named Chrysalimon, the giant red bug named Kuwagamon, and Guardromon, had surrounded the group. Behind them were six kids assumed to be the evil digidestined.

"Tai, do something!" Kari screamed.

"There's nothing you can do." One of the evil digidestined spoke calmly. He walked forward and revealed himself; slick hair, a bowl cut, and a tan suit, he seemed to be in command of the other digidestined. "Hello, my name's Ken." He said with a smug smile on his face. "Now listen, you've got two choices, I can either have these Digimon kill you, or you can join us to serve the great Devimon."

"I'd never help you losers!" Tai yelled, getting in between the evil Digimon and Kari.

"Oh, well, I thought you would be smarter than that. Stingmon, kill the stupid one!" He commanded. Before Stingmon could do anything, however, Eric launched himself off of the ground and stabbed Stingmon in the eye with a twig he had palmed. Then Tentomon attacked Kuwagamon with a "Super Shocker!" bolt of electricity, and the pair fled.

"Ayah, someone get them!" Ken yelled. Guardromon and Kuwagamon then began chasing the two with their human partners.

"Why'd he do that?" Tai asked.

"Because he's a coward, that's why!" Rika said angrily.

"No, he tried to save us!" Izzy responded.

"Alright, somebody deal with them right now!" Ken yelled. The remaining evil Digimon moved in, but suddenly a dark humanoid wolf creature crashed down from the sky and knocked the evil Digimon to their knees.

"Run, get away now!" The creature exclaimed. He didn't need to say it twice. The six kids and the Digimon fled.


	2. Joe's Sacrifice

**Chapter Two: Joe's Sacrifice**

The group ran all day. They rushed through the forest for hours, trying to put as much distance between them and their pursuers. Eventually nightfall came. The group headed toward a cliff face that ran down a beach, where they found a cluster of caves suitable for sleeping. The six humans and four Digimon piled into the caves to recover from the hellacious events that just occurred. After they settled in, the group began to discuss what had just happened, and what they should do next.

"Are you sure you're alright, Kari?" Tai asked his little sister for the 13th time.

"Yeah Tai, I'm fine. You have to stop worrying so much."

"Kari, those evil Digimon almost killed you, how am I not supposed to worry?"

"They almost killed you too, Tai." Kari pointed out. Tai let out a big sigh and rested his head against the wall. "Besides, I had Salamon here to protect me." She indicated the whitish cat-dog like Digimon next to her. It had digivolved from Nyaromon earlier when they were trying to find their way out of the forest.

"Thanks again for helping out my sister." Tai said to Izzy, Joe, and Salamon.

"It was no problem." Joe replied to Tai, "She was in trouble, and we couldn't just leave her out in the woods."

A few yards away from Tai, Kari, Izzy, Joe, Rika, and T.K. were the Digimon Renamon, Gummymon, and Agumon (Koromon explained that his name changed when he digivolved to the rookie level; he was at the in-training level previously) reacquainting. Salamon then joined the group. The four of them were all friends who had been attacked by the evil digidestined. Now they were only missing Tentomon and Tokomon. Suddenly the Renamon stood up and walked over to the humans. She was a little taller than Rika with a fox-like tail and head, looking like a blend of human and animal.

"Rika," she addressed the older girl, "I'm going outside to keep watch for the evil digidestined, okay?"

"Alright, thanks Renamon." The tall fox Digimon then walked off to guard the cave.

"So your name's Rika, huh?"Tai inquired.

"Yeah, what of it?" She replied rudely.

"I was just wondering. We're all in this together so I thought I should know your name."

"Whatever," she mumbled.

"Huh, fine, so what are we going to do now?"

"We have to go find my brother!" T.K. commanded.

"I know, T.K., but we have to figure out how to find him. We don't exactly know our way around this place."

"What we need to do is get out of here." Rika added. "I'm not staying here to get eaten or something by those stupid Digimon back there."

"I want to get out of here too, Rika," Tai began, "But we can't just abandon T.K.'s brother; and what about Eric? He tried to save us and I don't want to just leave him out there while we make our escape."

"That guy didn't try and save us, he tried to save himself. He stabbed that Digimon in the eye so that it wouldn't be able to follow them. I say good riddance to both him and that stupid Digimon of his."

"Hey!" Tai and Agumon objected simultaneously, "Eric tried to help me find my sister, he's not a coward." Agumon then complained. "And Tentomon is one of my best friends; he wouldn't abandon us unless he had a really good reason."

"Regardless of whether or not they abandoned us or not we can't just leave them here to die." Joe reasoned, "Tomorrow we have to find him and Tentomon, as well as T.K.'s brother."

"Screw that," Rika stated angrily, "Tomorrow I'm gonna find my way off of this island, and if you guys are smart you'll come with me."

"Well I can't leave Eric here, so tomorrow I'm going to find him."Tai stated

"I can't leave my brother," Kari added.

"And you can't just go off alone Rika," Izzy interjected, "If those Digimon jump you, you won't stand a chance. They'll capture you, and they could kill you."

"Hey," began Agumon, "What about our world. You can't just leave us. You all are the digidestined."

"Agumon we're just kids. We can't save anything." Tai tried to reason.

"So are the evil digidestined. Before they joined Devimon they tried to save our world."

"And what's to stop that from happening to us? What happens if the digidestined turn us evil, then you'll be even worse off."

"But you guys have to try! Please you were obviously brought here for a reason. We really need your help."

"Agumon, there's nothing we can do to help you. We're just kids. And the other kids who came here are now evil. The only option is to get back home!"

"But you have a digivice," He said, pulling the gadget out of Tai's pocket, "And you helped me digivolve. That means that we're partners, and I know that together we can save my home!"

"Hey, everybody," Joe interrupted, "Regardless of what we're going to do tomorrow, tonight we should all get some sleep. I'll go take watch at the front of the cave after Renamon, and whoever wants to can take the next shift after about two hours."

"That won't be necessary Joe," Renamon called from the front of the cave, "I don't need to sleep, I can watch all night."

"You sure Renamon?" Rika asked.

"Yes, you go to sleep, I'll make sure no one finds us."

"See, for tonight, we're safe. Let's just get some sleep, and then discuss what we're going to do." Everyone reluctantly agreed, and then settled down for the night. T.K. and Kari went into the back of the cave to sleep, and the Digimon formed a barrier between them and the front of the cave. Izzy gathered some dirt off of the floor of the cave and put out the fire, and then the group went to sleep.

The next day, the group awoke and discussed what to do. After a few hours, they finally decided what would happen. Rika and Izzy would separate from the rest of the group and try to find a way out of the digital world. Once they found an exit, they would use a signal fire to tell the others where the way out was. While Rika and Izzy were doing that, Tai, Joe, Kari, and T.K. would go and search for Eric, Tentomon, and Matt. Off to the side, the Digimon agreed that they should stay with their partners and try to convince them to help the digital world. After deciding their course of action, however, Tai pulled T.K. off to the side.

"Listen, T.K., I want you to go with Izzy and Rika."

"What!" T.K. said shocked, "No, I want to go with you and find my brother. He might be in trouble and I can't leave hear without him."

"T.K. please, you have to go with them. What do you think your brother would do if something ever happened to you?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Hey, I promise you that I'll find your brother, no matter what it takes. I won't leave this place until I know he's safe."

"Alright then, but I'm gonna hold you to that. You find my brother, okay Tai!"

"You can count on me, T.K."

"Will you quit yapping and make up your minds already?" Rika snapped, "Is T.K. coming with us or not?"

"Yeah, I'm coming," he said, and then Rika, Izzy, and T.K. along with Renamon and Gummymon started along the beach, toward the side of the island the group hadn't encountered before. Tai, Kari, and Joe along with Agumon and Salamon went back up the cliffs towards the forests, where the evil Digimon were last seen.

"I don't suppose you'd go with them too, would you Kari?" Tai asked his sister, although he already knew the answer.

***

"Tentomon, get down…!" Eric whispered. The large bug Digimon dived into the ditch seconds before the enormous Kuwagamon came into view. It crashed through the forests, destroying every tree and bush in his path.

.

"Find them!" The pair heard the human partner yell as the Kuwagamon smashed by. After the team passed, Tentomon began to lift his head.

"Wait," Eric mumbled, grasping Tentomon's arm as it rose. Tentomon ducked back down. 30 seconds went by, then Stingmon and Ken flew by. Ten more minutes passed: the two Digimon circled the area five more times, and then disappeared. Tentomon began to get up, but Eric once again stopped him: "They know we're in this area," He whispered, "They just want to fool us into thinking they're gone so that we'll reveal themselves." Tentomon stared at Eric with a dazed look. "Watch," he added, "They'll be back in a few minutes to see if we came out of hiding. Let's crawl under those fallen trees just in case they notice the ditch."

The Eric and Tentomon crawled out of the hole, and then dashed toward a pile of trees knocked over by Kuwagamon, diving into a large gap in the pile. They grabbed another fallen tree and pulled over their hiding place. Two minutes later, the pair passed by again. "They'll circle this area for about half an hour, and then they'll have to assume that we're not here and move on. It's a trick some hunters use to trap their prey."

"You think they're gonna eat us?" Tentomon whispered in panic.

"No, they want to kill us."

"Right, so, be quiet?"

"Yeah, something you're proving to be really bad at right now."

"Oh, right." Tentomon shut up.

They waited for ten more minutes. The evil Digimon passed two more times, and then stopped coming. Ten minutes later they assumed it was safe. "Alright, they've probably moved on by now. Let's get out of here as fast as we can."

"Have you done this before: being hunted?" Tentomon inquired.

"No, my grandfather taught me survival skills. He's kind of paranoid."

"What's a grandfather?" Eric stared at Tentomon with a puzzled look on his face.

"Is-are you-serious?"

"You don't have to look at me like that, jerk, I've never heard of a grandfather before."

"I'm sorry; I've just never heard anyone ask a question like that. Didn't your mom tell you about grandparents?"

"What's a mom?"

***

"Come on Tai, you know you have to help." Agumon argued. While searching for their lost friends, Agumon and Salamon began to try to persuade Tai, Joe, and Kari to join their fight to save File Island. "You can't deny that you're supposed to be here, you have a digivice. Only digidestined have one of those."

"It's not mine; I don't even know how it got into my pocket." Tai objected.

"But you shared energy with me and helped me digivolve. Only my partner can do that. Why can't you see that?"

"Agumon," Joe interjected, "How can you expect us to be able to help you. The other digidestined became evil; and they only had this Devimon to deal with. We would have to take on Devimon and the digidestined who turned evil; not to mention if he turned any of us evil before we could get our Digimon to champion, and I don't even have a Digimon.

"You just haven't found your partner yet, Joe; and I know you guys can do it. You're really special. You work together a lot better than the first digidestined. From what Matt told us they were always fighting with each other on what to do. You guys seem to know what you are doing. Except for Rika: she's kind of stubborn."

"Did you say Matt?" Tai inquired.

"Yeah, but it must have been a different Matt, because he was here for a really long time; months, not minutes."

"Isn't there some professionals you can call, like the police, or the army?" Kari added.

"I don't know what those are," Agumon replied, "But you can't just choose anybody. Elecmon said only the digidestined can save us."

"Even if we did agree to help you how can you expect us to do any better than the last digidestined?" asked Tai.

"You have to try. We're desperate. Every day the digidestined are either destroying countless Digimon villages or attacking them with black gears to make them evil. There are only a few villages and a couple of cities left on the island, and soon they'll be destroyed too" explained Salamon.

"There are cities on this Island?" said Joe. "If we can find those cities we might be able to get out of here."

"But you guys-" Agumon stopped short. He started sniffing the air around him. "Do you smell that, Salamon?"

"Yeah, I do," she replied, "Where do you think it's coming from?"

"What is it?" asked Kari.

"I think it's coming from over there." Agumon indicated a direction with his claw. "Come on let's go." Both Agumon and Salamon took off.

"Hey, wait up!" the three human's yelled. They took off after the speeding Digimon, and after a few minutes they began to detect the smell Agumon and Salamon had run off towards.

"Is that smoke?" said Tai.

"Yeah, I think so," replied Joe.

"I think it's coming from this way." Kari added, indicating where with a nod of her head. The group ran off in the direction of the trailing smoke. They reached the top of a hill and looked over a dreadful site. In a large clearing at the bottom of the hill was a small village that seemed to house a hundred people (or Digimon). However the village was not suitable for living in its condition. The huts that made up the village had been obliterated, only pieces of cinder and straw remained. Craters in the ground indicated an explosive battle occurred; also proven by the flames covering the surviving structures. The strangest part about the entire scene, however, was that there were no bodies. Not one trace of the villagers that lived there remained.

"Oh," Kari whispered.

"What the hell happened here?" inquired Joe.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna find out" announced Tai. He then rushed down the hill to find Agumon and Salamon.

"Tai slow down," Joe called. He and Kari then took after Tai, dashing through the crumbling huts toward the sounds of Agumon and Salamon a hundred yards away. The trio finally made it to the two Digimon standing next to a seemingly lifeless green lump. Agumon was shaking the creature, trying to rouse it out of its unconscious state.

"What is that?" Tai whispered.

"Come on, Ogremon, wake up, you have to tell us what happened!" Agumon began to shake more violently. Ogremon's eyes then began to slowly open.

"They-they attacked, Agumon. We didn't stand a chance. They-they didn't leave anyone-alive," Ogremon slowly faded away. Tai, Joe, and Kari sunk their heads in respect, but were shocked out of their mourning state when Ogremon began to disintegrate into white flecks.

"What's happening to him?" Tai said nervously.

"He's being deleted." Agumon said sullenly.

"Wha-" Before Tai could question him further a dark voice spoke up behind them.

"Like moths, to a flame, right Zoe?" The group spun around. Their eyes lay upon a girl in an old yellowish pilot hat, with purple hair hanging down the back of her neck. Behind her was a tree, or rather a tree stump, with hands, arms, and a face, known as Woodmon. His silhouette flickered with the movement of the flames. The evil digidestined had found them.

"Who knew the new guys would be so damn stupid, Yolei!" A voice to their side laughed. Behind the flaming buildings rose the head of Seadramon, a blue sea serpent with a golden helmet-like cover on his head, and on his head stood another evil digidestined, Zoe. The Italian girl was dressed in an odd assortment of purple-white clothing and wore a purple snow cap concealing the crown of her blonde hair.

"Alright," Yolei began, "let's deal with this cleanly Zoe, I don't want Devi-"

"Seadramon attack!" Zoe yelled.

"Run!" Tai yelled. The five started to run but Seadramon jumped into action.

"Ice Blast!" The frozen beam sped toward the fleeing group. Tai and Salamon dodged to the left while Joe, Kari, and Agumon were forced to fall back as Seadramon's deadly attack smashed into the ground.

"Ugh, always the hard way. Woodmon get the one tall one and the girl." Yolei commanded Woodmon. It rushed towards the larger of the separated groups. "Branch Drill!" It yelled. Agumon defended.

"Pepper Breath!" Agumon launched a fiery breath from his mouth, stunning Woodmon for a moment. The group then bolted from their current location. Tai and Salamon in the meantime now had to dodge Seadramon's frozen rays, zigzagging across an open field. The two groups were being forced to flee to separate sides of the village. Tai realized this.

"Salamon, they're separating us! Is there anything you can do?" He said quickly to conserve his breath.

"I can try," she stopped and faced the towering creature, which was slithering towards them while he blasted away, "Puppy Howling, AAGGHH!" Sound waves blasted out of the little Digimon's mouth and stunned the sea snake and his partner. "Come on, let's go!" She announced. The pair then circled Seadramon and took off towards the other group. Seadramon shook of the stunning attack shortly after, and continued his chase.

Meanwhile Woodmon continued its pursuit of Joe, Kari, and Agumon. Yolei trotted close behind. Woodmon was too fast for the humans, however and quickly caught up with and cut off the group. "Pepper Breath!" Agumon shot at the Digimon, however Woodmon knocked the attack away. He then smashed Agumon in the head, forcing him to spiral away from the group before falling into unconsciousness. Woodmon now towered over the humans. Yolei was about 20 feet away, so she slowed to a brisk walk.

"He he, now, why don't you reconsider that offer, Devimon needs some more digidestined. The world's kind of big!" The raspy voiced Digimon laughed.

"Kari, get away now!" Joe shoved the girl in the direction opposite of Woodmon and Yolei.

"Hey, I'm not done." Woodmon said angrily. A thin, dark needle slid out of his arm. He raised his limb and flung the object toward the fleeing girl.

"No!" Joe yelled. He launched himself in the direction of the dark object. It stabbed him in the back, and he slumped to the ground. The needle then began to slowly slide itself into Joe's body.

"Oh, no, Joe!" Kari yelled. She started to go to Joe's aid.

"Kari, look out!" Tai yelled, having caught up to the scene. Woodmon had leaped behind the girl. He then grasped her hand and clutched her in his arm.

"I'm tired of you running around!" Seadramon announced, having caught up as well. "I don't care if Devimon needs you, Die!" Seadramon's icy attack beamed towards Tai, who, like a deer caught in the headlights, stood frightened and still.

"Tai move!" Agumon yelled as he leaped from his previous defeated position towards the path of the beam. Tai's digivice then exploded with power. A beam of light smashed into Agumon and he grew exponentially. A brown skull-like helmet (with a horn) appeared on his head. The modified Digimon head butted the snake squarely in the jaw, knocking it into the air and sending the frozen attack spiraling into the sky. Woodmon, shocked, dropped Kari. She and Tai stared in amazement at the new Agumon.

"No Zoe! You stupid ass, you let it digivolve!" Yolei screamed at the girl with anger and fear. Seadramon crashed to the ground while the girl on his head rolled onto the grass and scampered away. Seadramon, dumbstruck, lay on the ground paralyzed.

"Ugh!" Yolei groaned in disgust, "Woodmon grab those two and let's get out of here. We'll leave Zoe to clean up her mess." Woodmon snapped out of his gaze and grabbed the two humans. Salamon intervened and head butted the arm clutching Kari. He winced in pain and dropped the girl.

"You little piece of-" Woodmon began.

"Woodmon, let's go now!" Yolei yelled as she dashed into the forest. Woodmon glanced back at her, and then whipped its head back at Kari and Salamon, who were already backing away. It groaned, tightened its grip on Joe, and then followed Yolei into the forest. Tai then scurried over to the pair.

"Are you alright?" He said, as he bear hugged his little sister.

"Tai, they took Joe. He saved me."

"What?" Tai stared into the forest. He looked around him and then understood. "No, Joe." Suddenly Seadramon sprang into action and launched itself at the trio. Agumon grabbed the Digimon's tail and whipped it back onto the ground.

"Damn you! No one touches my tail!" it groaned as it rose off the ground and back into attacking position.

"Way to go Agumon!" Tai cheered.

"It's Greymon now, Nova Flame!" Agumon, now Greymon, launched a large, more deadly version of the pepper breath in Seadramon's face. It fell to the ground in pain, struggling as it tried to regain its place in the battle. Greymon didn't let it. He slammed his foot into the Digimon's body. Seadramon let out a deafening scream. Its head collapsed to the ground. Greymon backed away; his work was done. Seadramon then began to shrink. He withered into a small green Digimon with four small claws for limbs and a large orange fin on its back.

"Betamon!" Zoe screamed. She rushed to the Digimon and grasped it in her arms. Greymon glared at the two, but Zoe ran off into the forest before Greymon could contemplate a vengeful thought. Greymon thought about chasing after the pair, but decided to check on Tai and Kari instead. He stomped his way over to the other three, now trying to recover from the events that had just occurred.

"Greymon, you were great!" Tai shouted.

"He, he, thanks," the huge Digimon blushed. Suddenly Greymon decreased to normal size, his headpiece disappearing into thin air. Greymon had returned to Agumon.

"What was that?" Tai inquired.

"I de-digivolved. I was just at the champion level. You remember what that means, right?

"Yeah, I do, and I think you're right. We're going to have to help you're world, if they're that ruthless. But first we have to go save Joe. Those other two ran off with him."

"Right, I'll help you find Joe, and then together we'll destroy Devimon and the evil digidestined!"

"You got that right buddy!"

"Joe saved my life," Kari commented, "The tree Digimon threw something at me, and Joe jumped in front of it. We have to find him right away.

"Don't worry we'll get right on it. Come on, let's go guys!" Tai lifted Kari to her feet, and then waved at Salamon and Agumon to follow him. The two were looking at each other with worry, however. Woodmon had tossed something at Kari. They knew what it was: the dark needle. Joe was beyond saving now.


	3. A Bittersweet Tailmon

**Chapter Three: A Bittersweet Tailmon**

File Island: a paradise surrounded by a seemingly endless ocean and covered in a vast array of almost unimaginable environments. Lush jungles, rocky beaches, steep cliffs, vast deserts, and frozen tundras each claim their own corner of the island. The interior of the island, surrounded by the various environments in a shield like fasion, holds the embodiment of the island; Infinity Mountain. A maze of pathways spider web all over the mountain, leading to the cliff dwelling metropolis on the side of the mountain and the ominous citadel at the mountain's peak. A trail of Digimon of all forms snake up the mountain toward the metropolis. Those who want to fight against Devimon and his armies plow into the city with vengeful faces, while those seeking to escape congregate in Port USB, the other remaining city on the island. Airdramon and Whamon bring relief to those Digimon, carrying them across the ocean to the safety of Server.

Yolei and Woodmon scrambled up Infinity Mountain, carefully dodging the masses of Digimon who loathed them. While Yolei could have ordered Woodmon to defeat even ten of those Digimon easily, hundreds would overwhelm her. Until she could reach the safety of the citadel, and the thousands of Digimon guards under the influence of Devimon, she would have to tread lightly. And worse still was that one of the digidestined Digimon had evolved to champion, creating a viable threat. Now that the dark needles were ineffective against him, Yolei and the others would be facing a challenge they had never faced before. Someone with power equal to theirs had emerged on the island, and Devimon would unleash hell as a result. She dreaded what would happen when she entered the dark building, hoping that her successful capture of one of the new digidestined would be a successful peace offering.

She reached the citadel with relative ease: the enemy Digimon kept to the metropolis and the few pathways to it. She and Woodmon strolled passed the two Fugamon guards, noticing the clueless expression on their faces. The Fugamon were reprogrammed by the black gears to do nothing except attack intruders, as to conserve the power of the black gears. Dumb Brutes, she thought as they passed, they can't even scratch their own heads unless they're told. Woodmon and Yolei opened the huge double doors leading into building, and walked into the pitch black tunnel ahead. Yolei swept to the side as they walked in, and smashed her palm into a relatively large button built into a panel on the wall. The doors of the citadel slammed closed and a strand of faint, blue lights sparked on 20 feet above Yolei and her Digimon, barely illuminating the path below.

Yolei and Woodmon walked down the corridor, their soft footsteps echoing like thunder in the spacious hallway. Yolei rolled her eyes at the theatrics set by Devimon, but she knew that these measures were necessary. The switch to illuminate the lights could only be pressed by someone touched with a dark needle or dark gear, protecting the citadel from any intruders who got passed the Fugamon. The lights began to shut down 15 seconds after they turned on, further adding protection. As to the size Devimon had enslaved many large Digimon, prompting him to build a large pathway to make room for his army. Yolei and Woodmon then came to a split in the path: one path continued the current direction, while two other paths ran perpendicular to the path Yolei was on. She looked at Woodmon and nodded her head towards the path on the right. Woodmon turned and started down the right path, slinging Joe over his shoulder in the process.

"Careful with that," she objected, "He'll wake up soon and he might be kind of ticked if he's been tossed around." Woodmon grunted and continued toward the prison cells. Yolei then turned onto the left path. She would rather have stayed on the middle path, towards the barracks and her semi-comfortable bed, but she knew she had to take the left path, towards the stairway and the chamber that housed her master. He wouldn't be happy to see her so soon. She continued down the path and came to a gigantic stairway, too large for someone her size to climb. She instead went off to the side and came upon an almost invisible door, only recognized by the barely visible creases where the door ended and the wall began. She removed her oversized glove and pressed her bare hand in the center of the door. The weighted contraption suddenly groaned with life. She replaced her glove and shoved the door open. In the room was a smaller spiral staircase that led to Devimon's chamber. She pressed the door closed, now aided by the handle on the unconcealed side, and climbed up the winding staircase.

Reaching the top of the stairs, she encountered another door. She dragged it open and was met by a large black chamber. The walls and ceiling of the room were shrouded in darkness. The only shape that could be recognized was an elaborate chair, semi-concealed by darkness that seated a dark, demonic figure.

"Yolei," the demon hissed at her. Yolei dashed to the middle of the room and kneeled in respect. "What are you doing here, do you have good news?"

"Bittersweet, my lord," she commented. Although unbeknownst to her, the creature's neutral face changed to a glare. "We successfully turned one of the new digidestined. There are only six left now and the team is combing the entire island, so we should capture them soon."

"What's the bad news? Don't tell me they got in contact with any of the cities!" Devimon snapped angrily.

"I'm afraid it's worse than that master," her throat dried up as she said this. Devimon rose to his feet, his fiery expression now obvious to Yolei's increasingly humble eyes. "Zoe and Seadramon became too excited, and tried to kill one of the digidestined, and in trying to protect him-"

"They digivolved?" Devimon screamed. His howl rocketed off the walls, almost deafening Yolei.

"That's not all, sir, the one that digivolved was an Agumon."

"Yolei!" Devimon screamed in disbelief, "Think very carefully about what you say to me now. Don't tell me it digivolved into Greymon."

"I'm sorry master."

"Damn you! You could you be so stupid! Not only did you let a digidestined become immune to my influence, but you let the one Digimon I specifically told you to never let digivolve, become the one Digimon I did not want him to turn into! Do you know what this means!"

"Yes sir-"

"Now he can digivolve to MetalGreymon, and then WarGreymon. So help me Yggdrasil if he ever becomes-" Devimon held his breath. His heart shuttered at the thought of the word. "Go find that digidestined now and KILL HIM!"

"Yes sir, right away." Yolei leaped from her position and dashed towards the exit. Happy that the worst was over, she scrambled down the stairs. When she reached the landing she burst out of the doorway and dashed through the intersection towards Woodmon.

Back in the chamber Devimon leaned against the wall, clutching his head. The councilmen were the only ones who could defeat him. He had already ensured that Paladin and Examon would not be able to face him, and had taken measures to ensure that neither Omega nor Saka would ever arise either. But thanks to Zoe and Yolei the digidestined had made a major footstep towards… he shuttered at the thought.

Devimon sighed. He glided back to his throne and dragged a chest out from behind the seat. He pressed his red finger into the lock, and it released. He opened the chest and pulled out the contents, seven pendants with unique symbols on the faceplate of each of them. "Fugamon!" he yelled at the guard hiding in the shadows. It sprang to life, rushing to the center of the room and kneeling in respect. "Go find Kazu. I have a job for him."

* * *

Tai, Kari, Agumon, and Salamon walked sullenly through the forest, towards Infinity Mountain. Agumon and Salamon had told them what probably happened to Joe. They explained that Woodmon had probably hit him with the dark needle, Devimon's instrument of corruption. The four sadly agreed that they should refocus on trying to find Matt and Eric. They figured that the easiest way to do that would be to head toward the Metropolis on the side of Infinity Mountain, one of the last surviving civilizations on the island, to look for any rumors concerning the two missing humans. They also figured they could run into Rika, T.K., and Izzy at or near the city, since it was probable they were headed there to find a way off the island. If that didn't pan out, they would leave the mountain and head towards the port city to look for the three groups.

After the team decided what they should do, silence fell over them. The journey towards Infinity Mountain had been deathly quiet; the only noise came from the sounds of leaves and twigs occasionally being stepped on by the travelers. When they came to the base of the mountain, they had to search for a path up the mountain. The first few paths they found were turned down by Salamon and Agumon, who noted that they led up to Devimon's citadel and not the metropolis. They had to search for a few hours to find the correct way to the safety of the city.

"Why are Devimon's base and the island Digimon's bases so close to each other, shouldn't the Digimon want to be as far away from Devimon as possible?" Tai inquired.

"The metropolis is guarded by a massive wall, and has a huge army of Digimon protecting it, so it's actually a lot safer to go there than any other place on the island." Agumon explained.

"And Devimon just lets Digimon go there. Wouldn't it be smart to do a blockade of the city or something so they couldn't get stronger?"

Salamon interjected, "They've tried, but the metropolis' army is too strong. Whenever Devimon tries a blockade they launch this huge attack in defense. And Devimon's citadel it too well guarded too. They've sent spies up there but no one has ever returned."

"So why didn't Elecmon take you to the metropolis so that you would be safe instead of living in the forest?"

"They only recently started attacking the forest." Agumon explained, "And Elecmon tried to get us into the city but they wouldn't let us in. They usually only accept Digimon that can fight against Devimon. They send everyone else in regular convoys down to the port city so they can be sent to Server where it's safe. But Devimon has the convoys attacked, so Elecmon decided to take us into the forest. The evil digidestined generally didn't order attacks there, since the trees were too thick. But we had a drought last summer and a lot of the greenery died away, so Devimon's armies were able to attack."

The group's discussion died down as they began to climb the mountain. Although they were on a safe path, there was a general consensus that keeping quiet was the best policy while they were out in the open. They started up the steep slope toward the citadel, hoping to bring together their team.

* * *

Yolei and Woodmon had made it to the base of the island and were now making their way through the forest. It didn't take long for them to find their target. Kuwagamon and his human, Henry, suddenly flew by.

"Henry!" Yolei screeched. Kuwagamon, a 15 foot tall red beetle with huge pincers, slowed to a halt at the sound of the human's voice. Henry, irritated, slid down the Digimon and walked slowly towards her.

"What do you want, Yolei? I'm doing something." He asked.

"I need you to go look for another one of the digidestined; the spiky haired kid that mouthed off to Ken. Kill him when you find him."

"Hey I've been looking for this other bastard for hours. He attacked us and I'm not going to let him slide."

"These orders come from Devimon himself. He wants the kid found and he wants him found now. Have Kazu and Guardromon look for him."

"Kazu's doing something else for Devimon, there will be no one left to look for him."

"Then I'll do it. But Kuwagamon can fly and get a complete survey of the island. Get up in the sky and find him now. He's traveling with an Agumon, a little girl, and a Salamon."

"Yeah, yeah, I saw them. Kuwagamon let's go." He hopped back up onto his Digimon's back and the two flew out of the canopy of the forest. Yolei sighed and instructed Woodmon to begin the hunt for the Tentomon and his partner.

* * *

Tai and Kari's quest up the mountain proved harder than they first imagined. The trail that led up to the metropolis was covered in stones and dust, debris from battle sites on the mountain. Huge rockslides had cut off the digidestined's path more than once, and they were forced to either climb around/over it, or clear the path. The torn trail set back the digidestined's quest by hours. Agumon's original prediction that it would take them only a few hours to get to the metropolis was quickly turning into days.

"So I'm guessing we're going to have to camp out tonight: and for the next few nights too." Kari commented.

"I think we should stop now, we've been at this for hours." Tai groaned.

"You're quitting again?" Agumon complained.

"I just meant stop for a minute to rest, take a chill pill Agumon."

"A what?"

"Oh, no! Kuwagamon!" Salamon suddenly yelled. The other three turned to the sky. The insectoid Digimon was closing in on them from the air.

"I guess we're not going to get that break. Run!" Tai grabbed Kari's arm and dragged her up the path. Agumon and Salamon followed close behind. Kuwagamon swooped down on the fleeing group and attempted to snatch Tai in his jaws. Agumon shoved the group down a ditch, saving Tai in the process. Kuwagamon then smashed into the mountain side, causing rocks to pile into the ravine. Tai pressed Kari and the two Digimon into the side of the ditch, protecting the group as the rocks piled above them. The rocks held each other together, forming a dome between Tai and Kari and the angry Kuwagamon above. "Agumon, can you do something?" Tai whispered after the immediate danger was over.

Kuwagamon circled over the pile of debris he created. On top of him, Henry swore under his breath at Kuwagamon's incompetence.

"What?" Kuwagamon complained, "At least I killed him."

"Yeah but you probably killed the girl in the process."

"So?"

"So-Devimon needer her. We were only supposed to kill the boy!" The dome of rocks suddenly exploded, smashing into Kuwagamon in the process. Kuwagamon was forced back into the air to recover. In place of the debris stood Greymon, his tail wrapped around Tai, Kari, and Salamon; shielding them from attack. The three then scrambled onto Greymon's back, gripping for dear life, as Greymon rose to attack position.

"Well I see why Devimon wanted to get rid of you," Henry commented as Kuwagamon regained itself, "We can't have a champion running around. Although I don't see why it matters, I can still kill you easily."

"We'll see about that!" Tai screamed back, Greymon had moved back onto the path, allowing Tai, Kari, and Salamon to climb onto the upper cliff.

"Kuwagamon, take care of that pathetic lizard." Henry jumped off Kuwagamon onto the third cliff level, above Tai and his sister. Kuwagamon then charged at Greymon.

"Nova Blast!" Greymon attacked. The fire hit Kuwagamon in the face, knocking him back. Greymon then rushed in on the offensive. Kuwagamon, however, quickly regained itself and grabbed Greymon's skull with his pincers. Greymon tried to pull back, but Kuwagamon's grip was too tight. Kuwagamon then lifted Greymon and tossed him to the side. Greymon attempted to get up, but Kuwagamon body slammed the creature, knocking Greymon flat on his back.

"What's going on?" Tai asked in a panic.

"Oh, this is only the second time your precious Digimon has digivolved, isn't it?" Henry patronized.

"Yeah, so?" Tai said worried.

"Well didn't you know that when a Digimon first digivolves, it has a lot more power than usual?"

"What?" Tai had to divide his attention between Henry, who was getting closer and closer, and Kuwagamon, who was tossing around Greymon like a rag doll.

"You're such a dolt. You see, we humans are special. When we help a Digimon digivolve it gets a big burst of energy the first time. Afterwards, however, your Digimon only takes enough energy to digivolve and nothing more. It only gets stronger after that with experience; my Kuwagamon has been gaining power for almost a year, but your Greymon has virtually no experience." Henry began to laugh. Tai watched helplessly as Greymon tried to defend itself from Kuwagamon's attacks. He was frozen in place: if he tried to help Greymon, Henry would get Kari, but if he just stood there Greymon would probably die. He saw Henry out of the corner of his eye getting closer and closer. Salamon now stood in front of Tai and Kari.

"Don't worry, I'll protect Kari." Salamon piped.

"But-"

"Go help your Digimon, he needs your energy to help him beat Kuwagamon."

"Uh, right." Tai looked around. Henry was still getting closer. He seemed oblivious to the small Digimon now helping to protect Kari. It was painfully obvious what Henry was thinking: he would have Kuwagamon stop toying around and dispose of Greymon, then have Kuwagamon come and kill Tai, knock out Salamon, and capture Kari for Devimon. Tai knew what he had to do. He rushed toward Henry, shocking the boy. Tai came within a few feet of him, then Henry realized he must defend himself. He tried to block Tai, but the older brother's fist was now coming in too fast. Tai smashed his knuckles into Henry's face, knocking him to the ground. Henry was stunned. His ego had prevented him from even fathoming a counter-attack. Tai wasn't done, however. He rushed towards Henry and slammed his foot into Henry's side. Henry screamed in pain, catching Kuwagamon's attention. Tai's ploy had worked.

"Hey bug!" He yelled at the Digimon. "Your partner must be pretty weak if he can let someone as pathetic as me attack him!" Kuwagamon entered a rage, forgetting about Greymon and rushing towards Tai. Tai dodged the Digimon's attack, rolling towards Kari and Salamon. Kuwagamon had to dodge his partner, lying in pain where Tai used to be. Kuwagamon pulled to the side, crashing into the mountain.

"Greymon, come on. Hurry!" Tai yelled at his companion. Tai grabbed his sister's arm and started fleeing the battle. Salamon followed. Greymon dragged himself off of the ground and followed after them. He stopped, however, forcing Tai to come to his aid. Greymon then suddenly de-digivolved, shrinking back down to Agumon. Tai grabbed the Digimon's arm before he could fully de-digivolve, pulling him onto his cliff. He pulled the Digimon along the path, trying to catch up to Kari and Salamon. Kuwagamon had regained itself, however. It pulled its head out of the dent it had made in the mountain, and then flew towards the fleeing group. Kuwagamon dropped in front of Tai and Agumon, staring down at them angrily and separating Tai from his sister.

"Tai-" Kari began to yell, but Tai's expression silenced her. Kuwagamon was so angry he didn't realize there was another digidestined behind him. This was Kari's chance to escape. Kuwagamon leaned in to face Tai and Agumon. Although his eyes where hidden, Tai could still see the sinister look on his face.

Behind Kuwagamon, Salamon had dragged Kari to a crevice in the side of the mountain. "I'm not going to leave my brother out there to die," Kari argued.

"There's nothing we can do. I don't know how to digivolve, so I can't fight Kuwagamon."

"Please, Salamon, we have to find a way. Isn't there any attack you can do? What about that sound attack?"

"It doesn't work on Digimon whose ears are covered in some form of armor. It would just bounce off of him."

Kari began to object, again, but suddenly Salamon crouched in fear. Kari turned around to see Kuwagamon standing over them. He was grasping an unconscious pair of Tai and Agumon in one of his arms. "Oh no," Kari whispered.

"I suddenly thought that Devimon might want to destroy your brother himself." Kuwagamon snapped his claws around Kari before she could flinch, then jumped away from the cliff and began to fly back towards Henry. Salamon rushed after them.

"Salamon, help!" Kari called out.

"I'm coming Kari!" Salamon responded as she chased after her.

"Uh, oh," Kuwagamon realized his mistake one second too late.

Kari's digivice suddenly exploded with power. A stream of light flew out of her digivice and smashed into Salamon. Kuwagamon turned around to face the new Digimon that was about to appear. The light extending from Salamon faded away, and a small cat-like creature, taller than Salamon and on two legs with large ears as well as yellow gloves, appeared.

"Gatomon?" Kuwagamon said with surprise, "You digivolved to a Gatomon; that's your big plan." Kuwagamon burst with laughter. Gatomon groaned. She then leaped off the side of the mountain and landed on Kuwagamon's head.

"See if you find this funny you piece of crap!" She smashed her paw into Kuwagamon's head. Kuwagamon screamed in pain and spiraled back towards the mountain. Gatomon leaped back to the ground and caught the falling Digimon. Kuwagamon, stunned, released the humans from his grip, dropping them to the ground a few feet below. She tossed the Digimon away. Gatomon then rushed to Kari's aid.

"Kari, are you okay?" Gatomon leaped to the girl's side and propped her up on a large stone.

"Yeah, thank's Gatomon. You know you're kind of small for a champion."

"It's not the size that counts you know," Gatomon said angrily.

"I know, thanks for helping me. How's Tai?"

At the base of the mountain Kuwagamon was recovering from Gatomon's attack. "Damn I hate when they first evolve." He pulled himself up and began to fly back up the mountain.

"Tai!" Kari rushed to her brother's side. Tai groaned as he awoke from his unconscious state.

"Kari, what happened? Where's Kuwagamon?"

"Gatomon saved us." She replied. Tai looked around the cliff side, eventually spotting the cat-like Digimon tending to Agumon.

"So I guess that used to be Salamon. She's kind of small compared to the other champions we've seen."

"Hey!" She objected, "I may be small but I took care of that bug a lot better than you could." Suddenly Kuwagamon flew back up the mountain, his jaws snapping towards the four. Gatomon glared at the Digimon. "Lightning Paw!" she announced as she bolted towards the Kuwagamon. Her fist landed right on Kuwagamon's forehead, forcing him to fly back in pain. She then struck his chest with a "Lightning Kick", knocking him down to the ground. Kuwagamon then de-digivolved. A small, black, robotic bug took his place. Kokuwamon struggled to his feet, and fled the scene. Gatomon then jumped back up to the cliff side where Kari, Tai, and Agumon were.

"Well that takes care of that problem, at least for now." she commented.

"That was great, Gatomon," Tai began, but we should probably get out of here while we still can. There's no telling when another one of the evil digidestined might show up."

"Tai's right; we should get out of here." Kari and Tai grabbed the groggy Agumon and lifted his arms around their shoulders.

"Well in the meantime," Gatomon flung her extraordinary long tail over her shoulder, revealing a small gold ring hanging onto the limb. She grabbed it with her paw and slipped it onto one of her talons. "As long as this is on my finger, it should stop me from de-digivolving."

"That's great, Gatomon!" Kari said excitedly, "We'll have 24 hour protection."

"Well not exactly," Gatomon's joyful expression faded, "If this ring isn't on my tail then I don't have the strength of a champion. But all I have to do is flick it on there and I'll get my power back. It's much faster than digivolving."

"But you probably won't have as much power as before; remember what Henry said." Tai remarked.

A sullen cloud fell over the group. The four ended their conversation and restarted their journey up the mountain, putting distance between themselves and Henry.

* * *

Devimon stared down the face of the mountain. He watched the specks that were Tai, Kari, Gatomon, and Agumon slowly climb up the mountain. His anger swelled up inside him. A voice behind him drew his attention away from the only window in the citadel.

"Master, I've made the preparations. I can depart for Server as soon as you tell me to." Kazu reported to the dark Digimon.

"Right, thank you Kazu." He grabbed the small box by his side and walked towards the human and Guadromon standing in the middle of the room. When he reached them, he raised his arm and handed the box to Guadromon.

"We'll deal with this quickly, my lord." He and Guardomon then began to walk away.

"Hold on a second." Devimon commanded. Kazu and Guardromon turned around. Devimon walked over to Guardromon and grabbed the box from him. He opened it and grabbed one of the pendants. A symbol similar to the sun was etched into a panel inserted into the pendant. He closed the box and returned it to Guardomon. "Continue." The pair left the room. He turned around and returned to the window. He could still make out the silhouettes of the digi-destined pair below.

"For safe keeping." He raised the pendant to his mouth, then swallowed it.


	4. In Devimon's Snare

It has come to my attention that I have been spelling Yolie wrong. It is Yolei. Sorry about that.

**Chapter Four: In Devimon's Snare**

Henry and Kuwagamon kneeled before their master. Devimon stood by his throne, his back facing Henry while he stared into the darkness of the chamber. He couldn't bring himself to turn around, for he knew that if he did he knew he would rip the pair apart. He wanted nothing more than to watch Henry's lifeless body fall to the ground as Kokuwamon faded away into data, but he still needed their services. That didn't mean he couldn't punish them, however.

"Master, please accept my full apology," Kokuwamon began, "I didn't think properly. You gave us orders and I didn't follow them."

"I know," Devimon said as calmly as he could.

"Sir, I-"

"Master, please, it's not Kokuwamon's fault," Henry suddenly stated, "When we were looking for the dig destined I suggested that you might want to have the pleasure of killing him yourself, and Kokuwamon just took my lead."

"But-" Kokuwamon, confused, tried to deny Henry's words, but Devimon stopped the both of them.

"You fools are both to blame," he turned around, revealing his furious expression to the pair, "I don't care who suggested it, Kokuwamon didn't kill them when he had the chance, and Henry and his ego told them about a digimon's evolution engery. And the both of you let that Salamon digivolve. If it I didn't need you now more than ever I would kill you myself." Henry and Kokuwamon ducked their heads in shame. Ken then walked into the room, Joe at his heels.

"Lord Devimon, Joseph here has awoken, and he is ready to serve you."

"Excellent, come forward Joe." Joe, his head sunken down in respect, came in front of Henry and Kokuwamon and knelt before his new master, "Henry, Kokuwamon, go guard the prisoners until I can think of a proper punishment for you." Henry and his digimon lifted themselves off of the ground and departed from the room.

"What would you like me to do, my lord?" Ken asked.

"Go help Yolei, Koichi, and Matt search for the rest of the children, I want them found before they have a chance to digivolve."

"Yes sir."

"And Ken,"

"Sir?"

"Don't make the same mistakes that Henry and Yolei made."

"Of course sir." Ken departed from the room.

"Now, Joe, we need to find you a partner," Joe lifted his head so he could see Devimon.

"Yes, master, but where can I find my partner."

"He's somewhere on this island, your digivice should be able to locate him. Go to the barracks and give it to one of the Gotsumon's. They'll search the island for your partner."

"Yes master." Joe got up and left the room.

Devimon sighed. Henry and Zoe might have failed, but he knew he could still count on Ken, his best servant, to carry out his orders correctly. And he felt comfort knowing Yolei was out there as well. She may have allowed Zoe to screw up, but Yolei herself was almost as good as Ken. He also knew that Matt and Koichi were much less impulsive than Henry and Zoe. Devimon sat himself in his throne. They wouldn't fail this time, he told himself. They couldn't.

***

"Gummymon digivolve to… Terriermon!" Gummymon flung itself out of Izzy's arms to defend the group from the rockslide, digivolving to Terriermon in the process. "Terrier Tornado!" He announced, spinning like a tornado. His attack deflected the rocks away from the group. He then struck the large boulder Renamon was holding with his horn, shattering it into thousands of pieces, falling into the darkness of the night. Renamon dropped to the ground, exhausted after blocking the boulder from smashing into the humans below.

"Are you okay, Renamon?" Terriermon inquired.

"Yes, thank you Terriermon. Congratulations on digivolving."

"Hey Gummymon," Izzy called to his digimon, "that was great!" Terriermon jumped towards Izzy in excitement. Izzy jerked back to avoid crashing into the digimon. Terriermon caught Izzy's head with his ears and landed on his shoulder.

"It was all thanks to you Izzy, you helped me digivolve to Terriermon"

"So, it's Terriermon huh? Did you digivolve to protect me?"

"I guess so. I just reacted; I didn't even realize I was digivolving until I became Terriermon." A few feet away from Izzy and Terriermon, Rika was helping Renamon off of the ground.

"Thanks," Rika said as she grabbed Renamon's arm and helped her to her feet. Renamon stared oddly at Rika. "What?" she said angrily.

"Nothing, it's just, you've never thanked me before."

"Well that's because I didn't have the time before. I'm not heartless." She began walking forward again. "We should go!" She called to the others.

"I wonder what caused that rock slide." Izzy pondered.

"I don't think we should stick around to find out. Let's go!" Rika called. Renamon, Izzy, Terriermon, and T.K. followed. Renamon slowly caught up to her, and began questioning her.

"Have you given any more thought to what I said, Rika?"

"No."

"Is there anything I can say to-?"

"No."

"Very well then," Renamon slowed down, pacing herself in between Rika and the others. Terriermon jumped off of Izzy's shoulder, who was having a conversation with T.K., to talk to Renamon.

"Are you going to give up that easily?" Terriermon questioned.

"No, I'm still going to try and convince her to help, but Rika is a very complicated human, I need to handle this delicately. You just keep working on Izzy and T.K."

"Alright," Terriermon slowed down and leaped back onto Izzy's shoulder, much to the boy's discomfort.

"Hey, what were you and Renamon talking about?" Izzy inquired.

"Nothing important," he replied.

"It sounded important."

"You know, eavesdropping is rude. Huh?" Terriermon flinched. Izzy stopped.

"What's wrong, Terriermon?"

"Something cold hit my head." Terriermon began sniffing the air. "Huh, snow."

Izzy and T.K. looked up into the air. White flakes began to rain down on them. "Uh, Rika," Izzy called to the girl in front of them. She and Renamon turned around.

"What?" Rika then noticed the snow slowly falling upon the group. "What the-" Rika raised her head in the air and noticed the snow appearing in the sky. "Where is it coming from?"

"I don't know," Izzy replied, "There aren't any clouds."

"Hey, it's getting kinda cold, don't you think?" T.K. commented.

"It looks like a snowstorm's brewing! We should go find some shelter before we freeze to death!" Rika now had to yell, as the wind was picking up. The group dashed to the cliff face and searched for a cave to take refuge in. A half hour of searching bared little results, as many of the caves suitable for refuge were too high for the humans to climb into. The group had to pick up the pace, as the storm was getting worse. The digidestined searched for a while longer and found a cave extending deep into the mountain. They rushed inside and found a section of the cave protected from the wind plowing into the cavern. They settled themselves into the large nook and began to warm up. Renamon departed into the main pathways of the cave and collected sticks for firewood. When she returned, she noticed the dreary faces on the rest of the group.

"What's the matter with you four?"

"We haven't had anything to eat or drink in a day and a half." Izzy remarked. Terriermon fell off of his shoulder in despair. His stomach groaned loudly in opposition to their current predicament.

"I guess I should find us something to eat." Renamon set down the firewood, "I'll go outside and find us something. You stay here; I'll be back in a few minutes." Renamon began to leave the cave.

"Be careful, Renamon." Rika said with the first ounce of sympathy they had seen.

"Thanks Rika." Renamon walked off, confused. Izzy and T.K. stared at Rika oddly.

"What are you staring at?" Rika snapped. T.K. and Izzy dropped their heads to escape Rika's gaze, "Shouldn't you be checking for an internet connection, Izzy?"

"Oh, right." Izzy pulled his backpack over his shoulders and removed his laptop case. He slipped his laptop out of the case and flipped it open, activating it. He toyed with it for a few minutes, and then shook his head. "No luck, I'm still not getting a signal. We must not be within range of any satellites or wireless receivers." A beep from the computer lit up Izzy's eyes. "No!"

"What is it Izzy?" T.K. questioned.

"I got an e-mail."

"An e-mail, I thought you said you weren't getting a signal?" Rika interrogated.

"I'm not; this e-mail just appeared out of nowhere."

"What's it say?" asked T.K.

"I'm checking. From ., it says..." Izzy drifted off in thought.

"What does it say Izzy?" the other two humans asked. Terriermon lifted itself off the ground out of curiosity.

"I'm not sure. It's in binary code. I'll have to translate it to human language." Izzy began running a computer program.

"You're a computer nerd, can't you just read it?" Rika taunted.

"No," Izzy said emotionlessly. He continued working on the program. A few minutes later his computer clicked in a successful series of sounds. "I got it. What is it...?"

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, crap! It's in English!"

"English?" Rika said violently.

"That's ironic." T.K. remarked.

"And why's that?"

"Eric speaks English." Izzy and Rika's face dropped in depression.

"What's English?" Terriermon questioned from the ground. His interest had faded a few minutes into Izzy's decryption process.

"It's a language they read and speak in America and the United Kingdom." Izzy responded in a matter-of-fact tone.

"What are those places?"

"Some countries in other parts of the world, Terriermon."

"Where?"

"It's not important," Rika said angrily, "We need to figure out a way to read this thing so we can find out if they can get us out of here."

"I'll write it down so we can try and find someone to read it." Izzy pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from his pack and wrote down the English message. He then saved the e-mail onto his computer and shut off the machine to preserve the battery. While he was replacing the laptop into the safety of the pack, Terriermon took a look at the paper with the unreadable text.

"It says "help me." Terriermon stated. The three humans looked on the digimon in amazement.

"You can read English?" T.K. asked.

"I don't know."

"That writing was in English, Terriermon, but you've been speaking Japanese the last couple days," Izzy explained, "so you must know both English and Japanese."

"These words that you wrote down look like everything I've read my whole life." Terriermon responded, "It doesn't look like any special language to me."

"But-"

"What did you say it said, Terriermon?" Rika interjected.

"Help me."

"Help me. Who could it be from?" T.K. questioned.

"Whoever's from the factory mark domain, I guess." Izzy said curiously.

"Does that mean anything to you Terriermon?" Rika asked.

"It sounds a little familiar, like I was told about it a long time ago, but I can't remember what it's from."

"I think the more important question," Izzy interjected, "Is what whoever sent that e-mail needs help from." The group was interupted by a groan from the back of the cavern. Something had awoken in the cavern from the group's discussion.

"What's that?" T.K. asked quietly.

"Something that wants to kill us, I'm sure." Rika commented sarcastically.

"Rika!" Izzy objected to her remarks.

"Well its not exactly a lie. Almost everything we've met on this island has tried to kill us, whether it's digimon or unexplainable weather!"

"It could be Tokomon," Terriermon whispered.

"Who?" T.K. asked.

"One of my friends," Terriermon replied.

"Shut up," Izzy whispered, "It's getting closer." The group became silent. They gathered on one side of the small chamber, hidden from the line of sight of whatever was out there. The wind had died down, so the group could hear the soft footsteps of whatever was in the other chamber.

"It doesn't sound dangerous." T.K. murmured.

"Hello!" A tiny voice sounded from inside the cavern. "Is anybody there?"

"It's probably some sort of killing machine disguising its voice," Rika breathed.

"It's Tokomon!" Terriermon yelled excitedly, much to the suprise of the humans. Terriermon leaped out of their hiding place and greeted the familiar voice. "Tokomon, you're okay!" Terriermon leaped into the main cavern.

"Who are you?" the other voice questioned with fear. Izzy decided to take a peek at the scene on the other side of the wall. He slowly lifted himself off of the wall and moved slowly to the edge.

"It's me, Gummymon. I digivolved!" Izzy inched forward, getting closer to the two. While the conversation certainly seemed friendly, Izzy wanted to make sure there wasn't something funny going on. Rika stood up and tried to walk past Izzy toward the pair, but he pushed her back with his hand.

"Gummymon, how did you-"

"Izzy helped me. Izzy, come out here!" Terriermon leaped back into the cavern and grasped Izzy's arm with his oversized ear.

"Terriermon-" Izzy tried to object, but Terriermon dragged him out of hiding, ending his cautious moves. Before him was not some large, falsetto digimon that he had feared tricked Terriermon out of hiding, but a small, oval digimon with long, jagged ears sticking out of what Izzy assumed to be his head. Rika and T.K. exited the chamber as well.

"It looks like a real terror, Izzy." Rika said sarcastically.

"You're the one who-" he began to argue, but stopped when he noticed the quivering digimon near Terriermon.

"Those are humans, Terriermon." It said frightened.

"Not bad ones, Izzy here helped me digivolve to Terriermon. They were called here to save us!" Terriermon said excitedly.

"Terriermon-" Izzy tried to object to the digimon's excitement. Rika, staring at her watch, interjected.

"Renamon's been gone for almost half an hour." Rika said worriedly.

"You're worried about her, huh?" T.K. asked the girl.

"Of course I'm worried," Rika yelled. Tokomon flinched. "I don't see why everyone's making a big deal out of me being worried about Renamon." Rika began to walk off.

"It's just that you've been acting so distant since we met you!" T.K. yelled to the girl.

"Rika, where are you going?" Izzy called to her.

"I'm going to find Renamon!" She called as she exited the cave, into the remnants of the snowstorm.

"Rika, you can't go out there alone!"

"Watch me!" Rika wandered off into the snow to find Renamon.

***

Yolei dropped to the ground in exhaustion. She and Woodmon had been searching for this one digidestined all day. She knew the importance of her task (she couldn't let this digidestined's digimon evolve or there would be another non-turnable digidestined working against them) but she just couldn't keep marching through this forest. The humidity alone had made it unbearable, but her inability to find the boy had led her to determine that he was either extremely lucky or that he had escaped the forest long ago. It wasn't hard to hear other lives in the forest (the trees strangely echoed) and she hadn't heard anything all day. She was relieved when she saw Stingmon and Ken landing a hundred feet away from her.

"Ken," she tried to yell, but her muscles wouldn't support her effort, "What's going on?"

"Master Devimon sent me down the mountain to help you search for the other children. How's the quest going?"

"Horrible. The guy's not here. I've combed this entire jungle and there isn't a trace of him or the digimon anywhere."

"Why don't you let me search the jungle, if he's here I'll find him."

"Thanks Ken, but trust me, he is nowhere to be found."

"All the same, we better make sure. There aren't any more villages here, so I'll burn the forest. That'll flush him out. Go over to the bluffs, Matt and Koichi know that three of the kids are in one of the caves."

"Isn't it snowing over there right now?"

"Then grab a coat." Ken's smile dissipated. His friendly attitude had now transformed to fit his commanding position as head of the digidestined.

"Right, I'm going." Yolei lifted herself off of the ground. Unlike the rest of the group, Yolei had no fear or respect towards Ken. He might have known what he was doing, but he was a complete ass about it in the process. She followed Ken's orders, but didn't take him seriously as a leader. He wouldn't be in control for long, as pride cometh before a fall. Soon that pompous bastard would get his, and she knew it would be soon. Afterwards the leadership role would be ripe for the picking. "Woodmon, we're leaving!" Woodmon, also exhausted from the search, dragged himself over to Yolei and Ken.

"Where are we headed?"

"The bluffs."

"The sea?"

"And snow." Woodmon's face lit up. Ken might have been bossy about it, but sending them to the snowy bluffs was a nice relief from the humid jungle they were now in.

"Hurry up," Ken growled, "There are a lot of caves in the cliff face, it'll take you a while." Yolei turned her back to Ken and rolled her eyes.

"Let's hurry up, Woodmon, we have a lot of ground to cover."

***

Rika fought through the raging storm. A few minutes after she departed from the cave, the storm picked up, forcing her to search in the sub-zero blizzard. Her arms, hands, face, and feet were now numb. The only thing that kept her going was the fact that she knew where Renamon had gone. While searching for a cave to take refuge in, Rika and Renamon had spotted some berry bushes growing on a ledge on the cliff face a few yards from the ground. Rika figured that Renamon had either collapsed on the way there, or had taken refuge in the cave when she realized the storm was too bad. She trekked through the snow towards the cave, and spotted it about ten minutes after departing from the rest of the group. The bushes were blowing violently in the wind, the berries stripped off either from Renamon or the storm. She reached the rock wall and reached up to the ledge. She pulled herself up and rolled into the cave. Although it didn't provide enough refuge to escape the storm, it did block some of the violent winds.

Rika walked into the depths of the cave. The wind funneled down the tunnel, guiding her towards the back of the cavern. She peaked into the only crack blocked from the wind and found Renamon crouched inside.

"Renamon! Are you alright?" She lifted up the digimon, who was laying on the floor. Bundled in her arms was a batch of leaves. Berries stuck out of the cracks.

"R-Rika, you came for me," Renamon was too weak to say anything more. She closed her eyes and laid back in Rika's arms.

"I'm going to get you out of here, Renamon, but you're too heavy. I need you to help me get you back to the other cave."

"I'll try to- but I'm so tired." Renamon lifted herself up with the help of Rika. Together they stumbled out of the cave and jumped out of the entrance. The wind had died down again, so the trip back to the other cave was relatively easy, although Renamon had trouble dragging herself through the deep snow. It took 20 minutes to get back to the cave, but a warm fire awaited them.

"Rika!" Izzy and T.K. said excitedly. They then noticed Renamon limping alongside her. Izzy and T.K. came to Renamon's aid, helping her make it to the warmth of the fire. They set her down and propped her up on a wall. The fire quickly warmed her, allowing her to stretch her arms. Setting the food down, she pulled herself closer to the fire, warming her even more.

"We were worried about you Renamon." T.K. commented, "We're glad you're okay."

"Thank you, T.K."

"Hey Renamon, look who I found," Terriermon dragged Tokomon into the center of the room.

"Hey Viximon, it's great to see you!" Tokomon piped.

"Tokomon, I'm glad you're alright. I was afraid the evil digidestined did something to you."

"Nope, I'm fine. Some big wolf-digimon saved me from them before they could do anything to me."

"We figured out the that's the same digimon that saved us from the evil digidestined when we were on the edge of that cliff." Izzy explained to Rika.

"Right," Rika seemed to care little about their conversation. Now that Renamon had recovered, Rika was thawing the frozen berries near the fire. "We better eat these berries before they go bad. Then we should get some sleep. Thanks for finding these for us, Renamon."

"It's no problem, Rika." Renamon said weakly.

Rika continued to thaw the frozen berries. When they were done, she distributed them between the six. Since all of them hadn't eaten for two days, they quickly consumed the small meal. Rika then doused the old fire and moved it farther from the back of the cavern. The group then settled in for the night, going to sleep.

***

Rika scrambled up the mountain, Renamon was close behind. She was climbing up the rocky slope, trying to distract Chrisalimon from the fleeing Izzy and T.K. Chrisalimon had taken the bait, and was crawling up the mountain behind them; his partner, a boy with slick dark hair, a red shirt, and green short-sleeved vest, trailing behind him. Earlier Izzy had awoken the group, warning them that the evil digidestined were outside the cave searching for them. At first they had no means of escape, but then Tokomon told them of a back exit in the cave that led to Infinity Mountain. A unanimous decision led them out of the cave the back way, and they began to climb up the mountain after they escaped the tunnel. The evil digidestined had anticipated their movements, however. Chrisalimon and his partner had climbed over the cliff and rushed across the plains towards the mountain. Chrisalimon had intercepted the group a quarter up the mountain and attacked. Rika was forced to distract the digimon while Izzy, T.K., Terriermon, and Tokomon made their escape.

"They're getting closer, Rika," Renamon warned, "We have to pick up the pace." Rika, however, was getting tired from the already fast-paced climb they were on.

"I don't think, I don't think I can go any faster," Rika said exhaustingly.

"Right, then," Renamon quickened her pace up the mountain and grabbed the back of her shirt. She then sped up the broken, rocky slope, moving twice as fast as before. Chrisalimon sped up as well.

"Can you keep this up?" Rika questioned.

"Not for long." She said ominously. Chrisalimon was now right on their heels. Renamon, running out of options, leaped off of the collapsed path and back onto the path winding up the mountain. She now dashed slowly up the hill, escaping Chrisalimon for the time being. Chrisalimon, however, climbed up onto the path above Renamon and continued the chase. The other boy was still on the slope, trying to catch up to the chased and chaser.

"Rika, I can't escape him for long," Renamon's arm was beginning to drop, and Rika's feet were dragging on the ground.

"Put me down, Renamon, I can run now." Renamon had no choice. She set the girl down and began to pick up her pace. Rika was keeping up with her. Chrisalimon was catching up to them, however. He scurried across the ledge and placed himself in front of Renamon and Rika. Renamon discovered the digimon's plan and stopped. She knocked Rika back as Chrisalimon smashed his claws into the mountain, causing a rock slide to topple onto Renamon. Rika, dazed, lifted herself off of the ground and positioned herself as far away from Chrisalimon as she could. Now only a few feet from the ledge of her cliff, she glanced over to Renamon, covered in boulders.

"No," she whispered. Chrisalimon positioned himself in front of the girl, still on the ledge above. Rika noticed the digimon and slowly backed up, closer to the edge of the cliff.

"I won't make the same mistake as Zoe and Henry," the human growled as he ran up to Chrisalimon, who was ready to pounce on Rika at a moment's notice, "Chrisalimon, the needle."

"Right," Chrisalimon slid a thin needle out of its would-be claw. Rika slid back closer. She knew how fast Chrisalimon was. If she tried to run either way he would be on her in a second. There was no way out.

"Welcome to the team," the boy laughed as Chrisalimon raised its tentacle-like appendage. It pulled it's arm back, and then launched the needle towards her. Rika closed her eyes, expecting the inevitable. Just then the stress of her body on the edge of the cliff shattered the stones under her, throwing her off balance and sending her down the cliff. The dark needle flew passed her harmlessly. Adrenaline now pumped through the girls body. She screamed for help, squirming on the inside with the knowledge that no one would answer. She had escaped an enslavement by Devimon just to fall to her doom. It wasn't fair. She didn't do anything to deserve this. She had just gotten on a train and was heading home, like she did every day. She had been doing better in school and was starting to be nicer to her mother. What had she done to deserve this?

Renamon heard Rika's screams. Her eyes flashed open and saw the girls arms vanish behind the cliff. Renamon sprang into action. She slithered out of the pile of rocks and leaped toward Rika, diving off the cliff after her. Chrisalimon had tried to go after her, but in the rush it tangled itself in its own limbs and crashed into the cliff below. Its champion body could handle the 40 or so feet, Rika couldn't. Renamon entered a nose dive, speeding towards the falling girl, who didn't notice the attempt at a rescue. Rika glanced down and saw the ground speeding towards her: only a few seconds now. Just then her digivice sprang to life. A beam of energy surrounded Renamon. The stream quickly dispersed, and the newly evolved Kyubimon, renewed with digivolution strength, dashed to the ground before Rika and caught the girl on her back.

"Renamon?" Rika was stunned.

"Damn it," Koichi was standing on the edge of the cliff, looking down at Rika and Kyubimon, "The Renamon digivolved."

"What, no, why?" Chrisalimon was frantic as it untangled itself. "Should we try and destroy her, now that we can't capture her?"

"No, Kyubimon just digivolved, she's too strong for you right now. We'll have to wait until she weakens. Let's get out of here." Koichi departed from the cliff edge and helped untangle Chrisalimon. Chrisalimon then wrapped two of its limbs around Koichi, supporting him. He then took off up the mountain, away from Rika.

***

Izzy and T.K. rushed up the mountain path. Terriermon and Tokomon where ahead of them, leading the way to safety. After having to split from Rika, they decided to run as fast as they could to dodge any other pursuers they might have. In the half an hour they had been running, they had probably scaled half the mountain. T.K. suddenly slowed down. The others stopped to discover the cause.

"T.K. what's wrong?" Izzy questioned the boy.

"I'm... I'm too tired... to run anymore..." T.K. dropped to the ground, exhausted from the run. Tokomon and Terriermon went to comfort him.

"I guess we can afford a small break, I just hope no one catches up to us." Izzy himself then sat himself on the ground, taking a breather. Their rest didn't last long, however, as the crunch of rocks under footsteps caught their attention.

"What's that?" Tokomon said in a panic. Izzy and T.K. lifted themselves off of the ground, alert to the new presence. Terriermon leaped in front of them, prepared to defend the group. Around the corner of the path, a large, blue, wolf digimon suddenly appeared.

"Ayah, Garurumon!" Terriermon alerted the others. The evil digimon laid its eyes on the four, then began walking towards them. A boy with blond and spiky hair appeared behind him. T.K. gasped.

"T.K.?" Izzy turned to the boy.

"Matt?" the child called to the evil digidestined gliding towards them.

"Hello, little brother."


	5. Love and Deception

For anyone who was confused, Everyone in the story is 12, except for Kari, T.K., Joe, and Eric. Kari and T.K. are 8 and Joe and Eric are 13.

**Chapter Five: Love and Deception**

"I don't think I can walk anymore," Tentomon complained as he waddled along side Eric.

"You said that same thing about flying five minutes ago, Tentomon." The human replied, "It's kind of hard to believe you."

"Walking's a lot harder for me. Look at my legs!" Tentomon indicated to the stubby appendages struggling to keep up with the lanky human. "Here, carry me." Tentomon jumped off of the ground and latched itself onto Eric's back.

"Tentomon! You're too heavy!" the weight of the digimon pulled Eric back, dragging him to the ground. Before slamming into the grass, he rolled over to avoid landing on Tentomon and bruising the creature.

"Well that back fired," Tentomon left Eric's back and settled itself on the ground, "Can we at least take a break?"

"I'm just as tired as you, Tentomon, but I really think we should keep going. Who knows when another one of those evil digidestined will catch up to us."

"How about this: let's go find something to eat. We'll keep walking and when we find something we can rejuvenate ourselves."

"It's just-"

"It wasn't a question. I'm going to find something to eat. You're welcome to join me." Tentomon took off in flight, away from Eric.

"Tentomon!" Eric objected. Realizing he couldn't convince the digimon otherwise, he took off after the flying creature.

"I don't get what's wrong with you. You don't eat, you don't drink, and you don't rest. What are you, a robot?"

"No, I'm just running on pure adrenaline right now. I'd rather eat and sleep when I'm sure we'll be safe."

"Adrenaline, is that a food?" You've been holding out on me." Tentomon complained.

"It's not a food, Tentomo-"

"I smell barbecue!" Tentomon announced excitedly. He started searching for the source of the smell. Eric glanced behind them, noticing the terrorizing site.

"Tentomon," He said softly.

"Not now, I'm hungry."

"Tentomon!" He became more urgent.

"What?" the digimon said annoyed.

"I found the cookout," he pointed to the forest behind them. Tentomon turned around. His face suddenly filled with fear. Far behind them, a distance far enough to conceal any noise, the forest was ablaze. Trees then began to collapse onto the ground, the noise echoing throughout the forest.

"Let's go, now." Eric started running. He grabbed Tentomon's arm and dragged him through the forest. They zig-zagged through the field of trees, trying to escape the fire that was beginning to consume the entire forest. A break in the trees caught their attention.

"That might be a way out of here, come on!" Eric quickened his pace, dragging Tentomon towards the supposed exit. Tentomon suddenly jerked him back, however. As he did a thin needle flew past Eric's face, barely missing him. It struck a nearby tree, and slid into the trunk. Suddenly the tree darkened. It crumbled away into ashes. Eric's face went white with fear.

"You missed, Stingmon!" Ken yelled at his digimon, who was hovering near Eric and Tentomon. "Don't screw this up."

"Eric, come on," Tentomon was tugging at the human. Eric snapped out of his horrified state and dashed off with the digimon. Stingmon had already launched his dark needle, however. Eric heard the small object rocketing through the air. He turned around in time to see it smash into his chest.

***

T.K. was frozen in fear. The vicious wolf digimon was closing in on him and Izzy. Terriermon stood at the ready, prepared to defend the humans behind him.

"What's the matter, Takeru, aren't you happy to see me?" the boy next to the Garurumon, Matt, was staring devilishly at the child.

"Matt, what's going on? What are you doing?" tears were now appearing in the boy's eyes.

"This is your brother?" Terriermon questioned, "It can't be. He's the boy who tried to help us up until a few weeks ago, when the dark needle got him."

"No, it can't be. Matt, you were only gone for a few minutes, what happened? You're not really evil, are you?" T.K. was quivering. Izzy began to place himself in front of the boy.

"I'm not evil T.K. I just have new priorities now. Why don't you come with me, I'll get you some hot food and a warm bed."

"Don't listen to him, T.K. He's been turned by Devimon." Tokomon spoke up to the boy.

"Shut up you little prick!" the evil teen screamed at the young digimon.

"It doesn't make any sense. He's been here for months. Your brother..." Izzy quieted as he noticed the Garurumon closing in on them.

"Come on, T.K. let's go. We can bring your friends, too." Matt glared at Izzy and Terriermon. T.K. was almost hyperventilating, his fear and sadness transforming him into a nervous wreck.

"Matt, no! What happened to you?" T.K. cried. Izzy then sprang into action. He grabbed the boy's hand and began to drag him back.

"T.K. come on." he started to pull the boy down the path.

"Stop right there!" Matt's condescending attitude faded away, his rage taking over, "Garurumon, handle them." Garurumon opened his mouth; his breath was dark and it seemed to poison the ground underneath him.

"T.K. we have to run now," Izzy was pulling on the boy, but he had collapsed. His face was now void of emotion. "T.K., come on!" He started dragging the boy down the path.

"Get him out of here, Izzy." Terriermon and Tokomon leaped in front of the wolf, prepared to protect the fleeing kids.

"You think an in-training and a rookie will beat my Garurumon, that's pathetic. Take care of them." Garurumon slashed at the two with its paw before they had time to react. They flew back and toppled over each other. Garurumon then quickly raised its head and aimed its mouth at the children. It blew a gust of air out of its mouth that launched a series of dark needles ahead. Terriermon was ready, however. It head butted the animal in the chin, knocking its snout upwards and firing the needles towards the mountain.

"Damn you!" Garurumon stomped on the small digimon, crushing it under its heavy paw. The dark needles struck the mountain, disintegrating part of the wall. The now unstable wall above the bare spot crumbled without support, falling towards Izzy and T.K.

"T.K. move!" Izzy grabbed the boy and jumped away from the collapsing wall. A light in T.K.s back pack sprang alive and streamed towards Tokomon. Tokomon jumped into the light and emerged as Patamon.

"Boom Bubble!" It blasted the crumbling rocks away, protecting the two boys. Izzy dropped to the ground in relief. T.K. snapped out of his trance.

"Tokomon?" he said confused.

"Ugh, get him quickly, Garurumon." Matt yelled to his partner. Garurumon sprung off of the squirming Terriermon and body slammed the Patamon, knocking it off of the ledge. It fell down to the previous mountain level.

"Izzy..." Terriermon tried to get up, but it was too weak. His situation was made worse when Matt knocked him away as he marched towards Garurumon.

"No digimon, no digivolving." he laughed as he headed towards Izzy and T.K.

"Terriermon!" Izzy called to his partner. That was all he could do, as Garurumon and Matt blocked the path between him and the rabbit-like digimon. T.K., now aware of his surroundings, had a devastated look on his face.

"Matt," was all he could say. He dropped to his knees, ready to face the inevitable.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. You're just going to feel a little tired for a while." Matt signaled to his companion to continue with the process. The digimon growled, raising its head, and opened its mouth, revealing the darkness within.

"Boom Bubble!" Patamon's attack crashed into Garurumon's head.

"It's Tokomon!" Izzy said in excitement. The small digimon had flown back up to the ledge and was combating the large digimon.

"Boom Bubble!" It continued its assault on the blue wolf. "You two get out of here, I'll handle him! Boom Bubble!" Garurumon was overwhelmed by the attacks, but was slowly regaining itself. Izzy pulled on T.K. again.

"We have to go, now!" Izzy started dragging the child. T.K. stood up.

"Get out of here! Boom Bubble!" Patamon's last attack proved ineffective. Garurumon snatched the small digimon in its jaws and began to shake it violently.

"Tokomon!" T.K. screamed. T.K. rushed to the digimon's aid. He latched onto the digimon's leg and began to stomp on it's paw.

"Ayah!" Garurumon howled in pain, releasing the rookie from its mouth. "Get off of me!" He began to shake his leg back and forth. T.K. could not hold on for very long and let go of the limb. T.K. crashed into the rock wall.

"T.K.!" Izzy tried to go to the boy's aid, but Garurumon growled in opposition.

Matt, watching the situation, became concerned with Garurumon's actions,"Be careful, Garurumon, you'll make the Patamon di-" his words were too late. As Patamon regained its consciousness, he saw T.K. up against the face of the cliff, sliding towards the ground.

"T.K.!" the light in Takeru's back pack shown brightly once again.

***

Tentomon lifted his head, groggy from his previously unconscious state. Trying to recall what had happened, he rotated his head to observe his surroundings. He was in an almost pitch black room, slung over a large bug digimon, probably Stingmon's, shoulder. On his right was one of the evil digidestined, speaking to someone out of his sight. His ears were still ringing, so he could not hear their conversation. To his left was Eric, standing a little farther behind Stingmon, holding his arm to his chest. His head was dropped down in respect. Tentomon then recalled what had happened. After Eric had intercepted the dark needle, Tentomon came to his aid, but Stingmon flew in and knocked Tentomon out before he could check the status of his partner.

Tentomon let his head drop down, mourning what had happened to Eric. The dark needle had taken him over, and soon it would spread though the digivice and infect Tentomon as well. As the ringing in Tentomon's head subsided, he heard a figure behind him give a command to the group.

"Take them to the barracks," Tentomon heard the creature behind them say quietly, or at least in Tentomon's perspective, "Give them something to eat. We've been chasing them for days and I'm sure they're hungry." Ken nodded in agreement. He turned around and began to exit the room, signaling for the others to do so as well. As Stingmon turned around, Tentomon caught a glance at the figure they were talking to. A tall, pitch black devil with torn wings and an evil gaze stood behind him. A smile on his face indicated he was pleased with Ken's results. Tentomon shut his eyes to escape the sight of the hell borne digimon. After he heard the slam of a door, he opened his eyes to a narrow cavern that contained a spiral staircase. Stingmon began to walk down the structure, behind Ken and Eric. After the stairs another door was opened and they entered a large, dark hallway. The trio continued down the hall for a while and turned down another path. They ended at a brown, wooden door along the path marked with a '9'. The door opened, and Ken led Eric in. Stingmon tossed Tentomon into the room as well. Tentomon rolled into the corner of the room and lifted himself up so he could observe what was happening. Ken was standing at the doorway conversing with Eric.

"I'll have someone bring you something to eat. Then we should get started with teaching your Tentomon to digivolve. It'll be a long and difficult process, so you might want to have him rest up." Ken departed from the room and closed the door. Eric sat down on a chair on the other side of the room. The room itself was very small, just basically a wooden box with a light hanging from the ceiling. Two chairs, a desk, and a bunk bed with a small pillow and thin blanket made up the rest of the décor. Eric was sitting in one of the chairs, his head to the wall.

"I'm sorry, Eric. I tried to stop this from happening. I wish I'd been a better partner." Tentomon apologized to the boy, "I'd like you to know that even though I'll be evi-" Eric cut him off.

"Shh!" he emphasized. Eric slowly pulled his head away from the wall. "Alright, they're gone." he lifted his arm away from his chest, a position he had been in the entire time which Tentomon didn't notice until now. "Help me get this thing out of my chest, will you?"

Tentomon's eyes lit up. A dark needle was sticking out of his gut. He was holding onto it with his fingers, trying to stop it from sliding into his body and corrupting him.

"You're okay!" Tentomon screamed in delight.

"Shut up!" Eric whispered, "We don't want anyone to know that."

"Right, sorry," Tentomon made his way across the small room and examined the needle.

"This thing's been fighting me for hours. I feel like my arm's about to fall off." Tentomon swatted his arm away and grabbed the needle with his claws.

"I think I can get it out, just be very still. The sucker's strong." Tentomon wrapped both of his huge talons around the needle and began to tug at it. It wouldn't budge, so he increased his strength, pulling the needle with all of his might.

"Ayah!" Eric clutched the chair in pain, "You think you could be a little more gentle?" He said through his teeth.

"If this thing weren't embedded more than Excalibur in the stone I would!" Tentomon struggled with the needle. It suddenly gave way, freeing Tentomon of his anchor and sending him sprawling to the floor. Eric grasped his stomach with his arm.

"Thanks... Tentomon..." Eric was breathing heavily.

"No problem. Now, if you'll take me to my throne." Tentomon joked. Eric chuckled at the digimon's wise crack. Tentomon then moved to serious matters. He unraveled his hand and exposed the needle in his palm. The tip that had pierced Eric had branched into multiple needles, seeming to extend like roots. "No wonder it was so hard to pull out, it was setting up camp."

Eric leaned his head back in relief. "So that digimon back in that cavern, was that Devimon?"

"Yeah, evil itself."

"I have to say," Eric said with half a smile, "whoever said that the devil comes in the form of a beautiful woman was a moron." Tentomon chuckled at the comment. "You got that?"

"Yeah, I don't know why but I did."

"Took you long enough to get something I was saying. I guess I just have to reference pre-twentieth century history to say something you'll get." Tentomon threw the needle on the floor and crushed it with his leg. The needle dissipated into nothingness.

"We should find a way out of here." Tentomon remarked. "Who knows when they'll come back."

"Hold up a second," Eric stopped the digimon as he began to open the door, "They're going to feed us, and we haven't eaten in days. If we want to get out of here we should probably get some fuel. Besides, we climbed up a mountain to get up here, I don't think I could go much farther on that crappy school lunch I had two days ago."

"We climbed up a mountain to get here?"

"Yeah. Oh I guess you were asleep. We're in some big castle on top of a mountain in the center of this island."

"We're in the citadel," Tentomon mumbled.

"What's wrong, Tentomon?"

"I don't think we're going to get out of here anytime soon."

***

T.K.s digivice sent a stream of power to Patamon who, although almost crippled by Garurumon's attacks, had more drive to fight than ever before. The steam swirled around Patamon, and he felt a huge change overcome him.

"Garurumon!" Matt yelled at the large wolf.

"Uh, I'm sorry Matt." Garurumon had barely anthing to say. Patamon in the meantime had swelled to ten times his natural size, and when the beam of light disappeared, an angelic digimon rose from his collapsed state on the ground to a powerful fighting stance.

"An Angemon?" Matt tried to sound panicked, but his voice had disappeared. The only force to back his words was his breath, which was now fast and erratic.

"Oh, that's bad." Garurumon commented as he backed up. When he reached Matt, the boy pulled himself up onto the digimon's back. "Let's go!" Garurumon exited the staring contest and tried to bolt from the scene. Angemon would not have it though.

"Hand of Fate!" Angemon fired a blast from his fist, shattering the ground before Garurumon. The wall beside it then collapsed, blocking the wolf and boy from fleeing. "You and your tamer aren't going anywhere."

Izzy was dumbstruck at the holy digimon before him. He watched the digimon literally glide over to T.K.

"Takeru, are you alright?" he pulled the boy off of the ground and sat him down comfortably.

"Tokomon, is that you?" he asked quietly.

"I'm Angemon now, Takeru. You're going to be alright. And don't worry about your brother, I'll cleanse him of the darkness." Angemon lifted himself from hi knelt position and turned to Izzy. "Take care of him, I have to go deal with our friends." Izzy followed his command, coming to T.K.'s aid. Angemon then turned his attention towards Matt and Garurumon. They were searching for a way around the rock slide.

"It's time to bring my friends back, Matt Ishida." Matt slowly backed away from the angel. Garurumon stepped up to combat him.

"Howling Blaster!" Garurumon shot a blast of blue energy towards the Angemon. Angemon quickly spun his staff, creating a shield that deflected the attack. It bounced harmlessly away into the air.

"Get out of the way, Garurumon. I'm not going to hurt him."

"We serve lord Devimon now, there's nothing you can do to change that!" Garurumon argued.

"That's where you're wrong." Angemon raised his staff to attack. Garurumon knew that he wouldn't survive an attack from the newly evolved digimon, and began searching for an exit plan. He quickly found one in the form of a battered Terriermon to his left.

"Angel Sta-" Angemon began his attack, but was surprised by Garurumon's sudden leap to the right, exposing Matt. He stopped his attack to avoid hitting the boy, but then noticed why Garurumon had done this. His claws were now hovering over Terriermon, who they had temporarily forgotten about in the excitement of Angemon's digivolution. "Let him go." Angemon commanded.

"Sure, why not." Garurumon grasped him in his paw, "Or, I could do this." He lifted his leg and tossed Terriermon down the cliff. The unconscious digimon flew down towards the earth, unable to brace himself.

"No!" Angemon leaped from his position and chased after the digimon.

"Let's grab the kids and go!" Garurumon suggested. Matt returned to the digimon's back and they leaped forward towards Izzy and T.K. Izzy tried to defend the boy, but Garurumon swatted him down. He grabbed T.K. in his mouth.

"Forget the other one, Angemon will be back any second." Matt commanded. Garurumon agreed and leaped away down the path.

"No, T.K.!" Izzy tried to chase after them, but the digimon was too fast for him. It quickly rounded the corner and escaped before Izzy could even pick up speed. Angemon returned to the cliff one second later, Terriermon safe in his hands.

"Did they escape?" he asked.

"They took T.K." Angemon's face switched from one of anger to one of concern.

***

Tentomon and Eric finished off their plates. Earlier, a tall, snowman like digimon that Tentomon identified as Frigimon dragged in a cart containing an assortment of unidentifiable (and grotesque) food. The two were too hungry, however, to be picky. After the digimon left they consumed the food rapidly, saving only a small portion.

"Let's wrap the rest of this up," Eric suggested, "We can save it for later if we get hungry on the island." Eric grabbed one of the sheets and ripped a sizable portion of it off. He shaped it into a bag-like form and placed the odd food in it. He wrapped it up and attached it to one of his belt buckles. "We'll I sure picked a great day to not bring my back pack to school. Tentomon, do you think you could conceal some blankets somewhere?"

"Why would I do that?" Tentomon questioned.

"It gets cold at night, Tentomon, we might need to cover up."

"Well I have nowhere to conceal them. The only place would be under my wings and I need those out to fly."

"Well the only place I have to hold them is my pants. So its either that or we freeze to death."

"Then we freeze to death."

"Alright, let's just find our way out of here, smart ass."

"At least I'm not full of myself."

"Whatever happened to you being excited to see that I was okay?"

"That was before I remembered your attitude." Eric had diverted his attention away from the unsuccessful battle of wits with his partner, and was leaning against the door, trying to detect a noise.

"No one's out there. Let's go now." Eric opened the door and slipped out. Tentomon followed him. The darkness of the hallway shocked the two, as the light of the room sharply contrasted the hallway. They quietly slipped down the hallway. Eric had memorized the pathways they used to get to the barracks, and was leading Tentomon towards the exit. A ten minute trip through the darkness led them to a large double doorway. Eric noted the control panel on the wall to their right.

"I saw Ken use this to turn the lights on and close the door. We should be able to use it to open it." Eric searched the panel and laid his eyes on the large red button.

"Well, push it!" Tentomon urged.

"I'm just wondering if there is some trick to it."

"If someone finds us sitting here in the darkness, debating whether or not to open the door, I think they'd be even more suspicious than if we accidentally screw up some door mechanism.

"You're probably right." Eric raised his arm and pushed on the button. The lights suddenly went out. A groan in the walls of the structure indicated something was happening.

"Did it work?" Tentomon asked. The building replied. The lights turned back on, but they were blood red and twirling. An alarm activated as well. "Guess not."

"We're gonna have to resort to Plan B. Try to pull the door open." Eric ran to the door and felt around for the space between them. Tentomon did the same. A few minutes into their search they heard footsteps down the hall. "Someone's coming."

"Pretend to be evil!" Tentomon whispered. The pair left the door and gathered in the middle of the room. The footsteps came closer, and soon the shapes of Henry and Kuwagamon appeared.

"What happened?" Henry screamed.

"I don't know. I heard the alarm and came to see what was going on." Eric replied.

"We'd better check outside." Henry walked over to the panel, completely oblivious to the oddness of the situation, and pressed the button in the same way that Eric did. The door complied this time, splitting open and revealing a beam of light.

"Huh," Eric hummed to himself.

"Come on!" Henry ran outside with Kuwagamon close behind. Eric and Tentomon followed. The four ran outside, and after examining the area they confronted the Fugamon guards a few yards away. "What happened, was there an intruder?" Henry interrogated the two.

"We don't know. We didn't see anyone." the Fugamon on the right replied.

"Go search the grounds." Henry instructed. The two digimon quickly took off in different directions. "Why the hell did the alarm set off?" Henry questioned himself after the Fugamon had left. Something in his brain finally clicked as he set his eyes on Eric.

"Tentomon," Eric nudged the digimon. Henry's temper began to flare.

"You-" Eric didn't wait. He threw his fist into Henry's face, knocking him onto his ass. Tentomon attacked as well, tackling Kokuwamon and shocking him. The digimon flew a few yards away from the group and landed a few yards away, stunned. Henry began to get up, but Eric kneed him in the head. Henry collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

"Let's go, now." Eric started running away from the citadel.

"That was dirty." Tentomon stated as he flew along side him.

"Would you have preferred we got into a fair fight with him?"

"Nope, just making an observation." As the team fled, Ken and Stingmon emerged from the Citadel. They noticed Eric and Tentomon fleeing, and Henry and Kokuwamon collapsed on the ground.

"What?" Ken was confused at first, then realizing the deception, quickly adapted to the situation. "Stingmon, throw some dark needles at them now!"

"But Ken-"

"Do it!" Stingmon raised his arm, and a dark needle appeared out of each finger. He thrust his hand in the direction of the departing digidestined and partner, tossing the needles towards them.

Eric had turned around to make sure they weren't being pursued. He then noticed Stingmon, and five small beads flying towards him.

"Damn."


	6. Overcoming the Odds

**Chapter Six: Overcoming the Odds**

"Tentomon, get down!" Eric leaped onto the digimon, smashing him into the earth. The dark needles pursuing them flew overhead, striking the ground a few feet away. "Come on," Eric lifted the digimon and urged him along.

"How'd they find out so soon?" Tentomon cried as he fled.

"Well when they saw us running away from the scene it was probably a big clue." Behind them, Stingmon had taken off in their direction.

"Stingmon's chasing us!"

"I know," Stingmon flew over the two, and then landed a few yards in front of them. Eric and Tentomon pulled back to avoid running into the evil digimon. "Crap," Eric mumbled to himself.

"Tell me, what's the chance of missing at point blank range?" Stingmon laughed as he rose his arm. 5 needles extended from his fingers as he did.

"They're not taking any chances, are they?" Tentomon whined. Eric and Tentomon slowly backed up, trying to figure out a way out of the situation. Stingmon rose his arm above his head, ready to launch the needles at his prey.

"I'm sorry, Tentomon."

"Me too."

Stingmon flung his arm forward, forcing Eric to flinch and activating the digivice attached to his belt. Energy streamed out of the device and consumed Tentomon. His size multiplied, forming a blue insect of seemingly immeasurable size. The digivolution shocked Stingmon, who was knocked onto his back. The needles in his fingers flew harmlessly away. An irritated scream near the citadel indicated Ken's anger. Eric had jumped away when he noticed Tentomon's digivolution, and was now staring up at the enormous creature.

"Tentomon?"

"It's Kabuterimon." The deep throated animal responded.

"Okay then." Eric lifted himself off of the ground and backed away from the two insect digimon. Stingmon, having recuperated, flew into the air.

"Oh, this is just what I need," Stingmon forced a blade of light-purple energy out of his forearm, "Spiking Strike!" Stingmon launched himself towards Kabuterimon, his blade at the head. Kabuterimon grabbed Stingmon's blade arm with one of his hands. "Let- go of me you overgrown beetle." Kabuterimon complied. He tossed Stingmon away. Stingmon stumbled to the ground. Kabuterimon then flew into the air and pulled his arms together.

"How's this for an overgrown beetle- Electro Shocker!" Kabuterimon formed a large electric sphere and fired it at Stingmon.

"Crap!" Stingmon blocked the sphere with his arms, but it had no effect. The sphere sent waves of energy through Stingmon, knocking the digimon out and degenerating him to Wormon.

Ken, in the meantime had marched up to Eric and confronted him. "No, you asshole. I'm not going to let you get away. I just-" Eric spun around and drove his fist into Ken's jaw. Ken fell back but caught himself. In response, Eric kicked Ken in the knee, making him collapse onto the ground.

"You almost broke my knuckle, bastard." Eric massaged his hand. He then turned to Kabuterimon. "How's your hand, big guy?" he asked, referring to the wound Kabuterimon had sustained after grabbing Stingmon's blade.

"Fine, just a little cut. We should go before reinforcements arrive."

"You seem to be able to handle yourself."

"Against Devimon, the very one who strikes fear in the heart of the people who have been terrorizing us over the past few days?"

"Good point." Kabuterimon indicated to his large back, which Eric then climbed upon with the help of the creature. "We should probably comb the island and see if we can find any of those other kids; that is if they were able to make it out after I distracted those digimon."

***

"Angemon, are you okay?" Izzy questioned the digimon who was carrying him and Terriermon on his back. The digimon had begun to breathe heavily, and his elevation was rapidly decreasing.

"I'm too... tired to keep... flying." Angemon landed hard on the ground, buckling his knees to brace himself.

"Angemon, what's going on?" Izzy asked as he slid off of the creature's back.

"I was really tired when I was Patamon..." Angemon had to sit down due to his exhaustion, "and the energy burst I received from T.K. concealed my exhaustion. I think it's beginning to wear off now." Angemon was breathing even heavier. He then clutched his chest in pain.

"Angemon, what's happening?" Izzy came to the digimon's side.

"I'm just, weakening." Angemon leaned his head back. A bright light then overcame his body and he reduced in size. The light faded away, revealing Patamon.

"Hey, buddy, how you doing?" he pulled the digimon off of the ground and comforted him.

"Okay, I just need to rest from the battle." Patamon closed his eyes.

"Great, I've got two beat up digimon with no defenses, and I'm completely exposed on this mountain." Terriermon stirred in his other arm.

"I can walk, Izzy. You don't have to worry about me." Terriermon struggled to get out of his arms, then floated to the ground. Upon impact, a pain in his knee forced him to kneel.

"You don't look like you can walk on your own, Terriermon. Why don't you rest on my shoulder and I can carry Patamon in my arms."

"That sounds good." Terriermon pulled himself up onto Izzy's shoulder. Izzy then scooped up Patamon in his arms.

"Which way is the metropolis, Terriermon?" Terriermon pointed down a path with his ear, "Right." Izzy started walking down the path. It was a relatively peaceful walk. No enemies had appeared. The flight with Angemon had brought them most of the way up the mountain, midway between the Citadel and the metropolis, so Izzy only had to walk downhill. As he rounded an oddly sharp curve in the path, he came upon a very flat facade of the mountain. A series of plateaus, laced with farms, covered this part of the mountain, and at the base of the plateaus was a tall city surrounded by a monstrous wall.

"We made it," Terriermon said excitedly.

"Is there a path that leads to the city?" Izzy questioned.

"The same one we're on." Terriermon replied.

"Good, we should get going." Izzy continued down the path, but was stopped by a sudden explosion. The ground in front of him burst into pieces, startling him backwards. From the sky, Woodmon suddenly landed in front of them. Terriermon leaped off of Izzy's shoulder and landed in front of the digimon in a defensive mode. He stumbled to the ground and had to lift himself up, however. As the dust settled, Izzy could see Yolei slipping off of the digimon's back and taking position to the right of Woodmon.

"You two are the last ones, you know." Yolei said as she circled the group, "All of the other kids somehow managed to digivolve their partners. I guess you're just special." Yolei laughed. She came closer to Izzy.

"I got it, Izzy." Terriermon placed himself between Izzy and Woodmon. Woodmon chuckled and then slammed his fist into the rabbit, knocking him down to a lower plateau. Izzy gasped, but remembering the Patamon in his arms, backed up in defense.

"I'm not making any mistakes this time," Yolei commented, "Woodmon, throw some dark needles and then kill the Patamon." Izzy knew he had to protect Patamon, so he leaped to the side and tried to toss Patamon down the hill so it would roll down to the city. Woodmon grabbed the back of the boy's shirt and jerked him back. Izzy landed on his back, still cradling Patamon in his arms. Woodmon hovered over him and raised his arm. He closed his eyes.

Suddenly Izzy's digivice flurried with life. Feeling the vibrations on his hip, he glanced down and watched a stream of light fire out of the device. Woodmon was taken aback by the sudden show of power. Izzy's eyes were drawn to the beam, however, as he could make out the details of the light.

"Computer code," he whispered to himself. His attention was diverted to the sudden stomping behind him. He raised his head and turned around, then noticed the large rabbit with jeans and Gatling guns replacing his hands.

"Ayah, a Gargomon!" Woodmon screamed. The digimon leaped closer to the wooden digimon.

"Izzy, get away!" he yelled to the boy. Izzy complied, rolling away from the scene. After distancing himself from the two champion digimon, Izzy watched as Gargomon lunged towards Woodmon and smashed his weapon into Woodmon's chest. Woodmon in turn hit Gargomon with an uppercut, sending him sprawling backwards. Gargomon caught himself with his hand (weapon) and leaped into the air. Woodmon dashed towards the digimon, stretching his arm back in preparation of attack. Gargomon landed on a cliff face opposite Izzy and leaped from the vertical plane. He flew over Woodmon, and before the other digimon had time to react, Gargomon extended his arm and attacked.

"Gargo Laser!" Gargomon's cannon spun into action. Furious beams of green light pummeled into Woodmon's head, pounding the digimon almost into oblivion. Gargomon stopped his attack and landed on the ground past Woodmon. He then dashed up to the digimon and drove his fist into Woodmon's back, knocking the digimon to the ground. It rolled near the edge of the plateau and de-digivolved to a mushroom-like digimon. Yolei then turned his attention to Izzy and Patamon. Behind him, Yolei had recovered Mushroomon and was escaping down another path.

"You okay Izzy?" Gargomon helped lift the boy off of the ground. Izzy stabilized himself and re-firmed his grip on Patamon.

"So those dark needles are ineffective now, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"We should get to that city." Izzy nodded his head in the direction of the metropolis.

"Well then, let's get going."

***

Ken and Chrisalimon peered over the cliff. Below them, two children and their digimon partners were walking up the path in the direction of the metropolis.

"So is that the one?" Chrisalimon questioned his partner.

"Yeah, he's partnered with an Agumon. He must be the one Devimon wants destroyed."

"I'll take care of them quickly."

"You'd better. We need to do something to make up for forcing that Renamon to digivolve."

Chrisalimon slowly crawled over the edge of the cliff, positioning himself behind the travelling group.

***

Agumon stopped and began sniffing the air.

"What is it Agumon?" Tai questioned.

"There's someone here." Agumon began rotating his head, looking for the source of the smell.

"Maybe you should get prepared, just in case, Gatomon." Kari pointed at the cat's tail.

"Right." Gatomon slipped the tail ring off of her large glove and flipped it back onto her tail. She then immediately sensed the attack. "Kari, get down!" She pulled the digimon to the side. Chrisalimon's appendages flew into the ground where Kari and Gatomon once stood.

"Tai, move!" Agumon shoved the boy away. "Pepper Breath!" he launched the spheres of fire at Chrisalimon's tentacles, forcing him to jerk back.

"Ow, you bastard." Chrisalimon commented as he rolled to the ground.

"I think it's time for you to digivolve." Tai mentioned to his partner. He grabbed his digivice and clicked a button on the side, activating the gadget. Agumon nodded. Chrisalimon lunged to attack, but the stream of light burst from Tai's digivice and swirled around Agumon, temporarily blinding the evil digimon. Gatomon then lunged in to attack. She slammed her fist into Chrisalimon's head, knocking him to the ground. Greymon, now digivolved, fired a Nova Blast at the creature. Chrisalimon quickly defended, using his limbs to deflect the blast. He leaped back and rejuvenated himself.

"That was a dirty trick." Chrisalimon complained.

"You saw it happening, dumb ass." Tai mocked the digimon. Chrisalimon growled in anger, then lunged towards Greymon.

"Nova Blast!" the fire rocketed towards Chrisalimon, but he easily dodged the blast. He then wrapped himself on Greymon's face, crushing Greymon's skull.

"Ayah," Greymon mumbled as Chrisalimon's grip grew tighter.

"I'm coming Greymon!" Gatomon leaped into the air and struck at Chrisalimon with her claws. Chrisalimon winced in pain, then swatted the the digimon with its tentacle. Gatomon took the attack in the gut, stunning her and sending her crashing into the rock wall. Gatomon slid down the wall and fainted.

"Gatomon!" Kari tried to go to the animal's aid, but Tai stopped her.

"It's too dangerous, Kari. She's too close to Chrisalimon." Kari held back. "Greymon, get him off of you!"

"M'trng," Greymon tried to speak, but Chrisalimon had now completely sealed Greymon's jaw shut. He banged his head against the side of the mountain, trying to scrape Chrisalimon from his snout, but the insect wouldn't budge. "Hlp!" Greymon tried to scream.

"Fox Tail Inferno!" a voice sounded from down the path. A series of fiery orbs crashed into Chrisalimon's back. This time, the attack was enough to force the digimon to release its grip on Greymon. Greymon then shook the digimon off of his head, throwing him onto the ground.

"Who did that come from?" Kari questioned. Tai looked in the direction of the attack. A ways down the path, a large, yellow fox-like digimon was running towards them, with a girl with red hair on its back.

"It's Rika!" Tai said happily. The girl and her digimon dashed to Tai and Rika's side, stopping itself next to them.

"Hey there, it's good to see you again." said Rika, jumping off of the digimon.

"We missed you." Kari replied to her. "Although I think Greymon's the happiest to see you." In front of them, Greymon had stretched his jaw muscles and was now bearing down on Chrisalimon.

"Nova Blast!" Greymon launched the flaming attack at Chrisalimon, but the digimon caught it and knocked it down the cliff. Chrisalimon sprang from its spot on the ground and whipped its tentacles at Greymon's face, knocking the digimon back.

"Looks like you need some help- Fox Tail Inferno!" Kyubimon raised her tails and re-shot the attack at Chrisalimon. Chrisalimon was prepared this time though. He created a shield with his limbs. The fire crashed into Chrisalimon and faded away, ineffective.

***

"Do you hear that?" Izzy asked the digimon on his shoulder, referring to the series of explosions that had just taken place.

"Yeah, it's coming from over there." Terriermon indicated to a path that broke away from the metopolis towards a bend in the mountain. Izzy ran down the path, then slowed down when he reached the bend. He and Terriermon peered around the corner, then noticed the battle taking place.

"That's Rika, Kari, and Tai!" Izzy exclaimed. "They're fighting one of the digimon that cornered us before."

"Those two must be the digivolved forms of Agumon and Renamon." Terriermon stated, indicating Greymon and Kyubimon. "They look like they're having trouble, we should help."

"Do you think you can digivolve again so soon?"

"I'll have to try."

***

"Lightning Paw!" Gatomon sprang from her unconscious position on the ground and struck Chrisalimon before it could deal a deadly strike to Greymon. Chrisalimon spun back and landed on the side of the cliff.  
"Way to go, Gatomon!" Kari cheered. She then noticed a flash of light to her right. She glanced over to the commotion and was shocked by the huge greenish digimon flying down the path.

"Gargo Laser!" the digimon leaped from the ground and fired its rounds at Chrisalimon. Chrisalimond dodged, and switched to a location on the upper ledge.

"Aw, damn. Another one?" Chrisalimon complained.

"Hey guys!" Izzy ran up behind Tai, Rika, and Kari. They turned around and were surprised but glad to see the boy.

"Well this is convenient." Rika commented.

"Are you really bothered that I'm here?" he said sarcastically.

"Thanks for the help Izzy!" Kari said happily.

"Gargo Laser!" Gargomon announced, attacking the evil digimon again. Chrisalimon dodged again and landed on Greymon's head. Before Greymon could react he stabbed the digimon's skull with one of the sharp points on his limbs, and then tossed himself into the air, striking Gargomon. Gargomon crashed to the ground, almost landing on Gatomon. Chrisalimon then gripped the side of the mountain.

"When are you all going to learn that you can't beat me." Chrisalimon entered his dialogue. "I'm stronger than every single one of you combined, and I'm more agile on this mountain than any of you. I'm also the strongest of any digimon on my team and as soon as I kill the lot of you Devimon will-"

"Electro Shocker!" the huge sphere struck Chrisalimon in the back, knocking him to the ground.

"Now's our chance." Gatomon addressed the other digimon. She lifted herself off of the ground and attacked the stunned Chrisalimon. "Lightning Paw!" her attack sent the digimon flying into the air.

"Gargo Laser!" Gargomon fired at the digimon, knocking him further into the sky.

"Nova Blast!"

"Fox Tail Inferno!" Greymon and Kyubimon shot their fiery attacks at the digimon, completely paralyzing him. Kabuterimon then flew into sight, grabbing one of the digimon's limbs and throwing him into the side of the mountain a few hundred feet above them. The group of digidestined cheered at the defeat of the digimon.

Kabuterimon lowered itself to the cliff above the others. Eric then jumped off of the digimon's back. "You guys sure make quite a commotion." he laughed.

Kabuterimon lowered the boy down to the path with the rest of the digidestined, and de-digivolved to Tentomon.

"Hello friends!" the digimon said excitedly.

"Hey, it's the chicken," Rika said angrily towards Eric. He now had a confused look on his face.

"What'd I do?" he asked.

"Hey, it's good to see you again Eric." Tai held his hand out to the boy. Rika swatted it down. "What's your problem."

"My problem is with him. He runs away and leaves us to get turned by the dark needles." While Rika was complaining, the other digimon had de-digivolved (minus Gatomon, who replaced her tail ring on her finger) and were reuniting.

"I didn't run away, I was trying to distract those digimon long enough so that you guys could escape. It obviously worked since you are all here. Where's T.K. and that tall kid?"

"We didn't escape because of you!" Rika was now in the American's face. "Some big blue digimon saved us. After you ran all but two of them turned back on us and was going to attack."

"Rika, calm down." Tai tried to stop the girl's rage. "If he was really the coward you say, then why did he help us just now?"

"Hey, thanks Tai." Eric commented. Rika threw a hateful glaze at him, forcing him to turn his head.

"Rika, what's your problem. We're all together again, and now we can help Gatomon and the others save their world." Kari commented to the girl, forgetting that she and Tai had not discussed the situation with anyone else.

"Excuse me?" Rika exclaimed. "I never agreed to anything like that, I still want to get out of here, what's going on Tai?"

"Well, me and Kari promised them we'd all help. They're in real trouble here."

"All of us?"

"I figured you all would want to help too when you saw the condition of the island."

"Oh, well thanks for speaking for me person who I've barely met." Eric commented behind them. Tentomon complained about Eric's comment in the background, but it was wasn't understandable to the humans who were wrapped in discussion. "Still, we're missing some people. Where's T.K. and that boy with the blue hair." Rika then noticed their missing members.

"What happened to Joe?" She asked. Tai and Kari now had a saddened look on their face.

"He sacrificed himself to save me," Kari answered. "one of the evil digimon tossed a dark needle at me, and it almost hit, but Joe jumped in front of it."

"Aw, poor Joe." Eric had a genuine mourning look on his face. "So they turned him, huh?" Kari nodded her head. Silence temporarily covered the group. Rika then turned around and confronted Izzy.

"Where's T.K. Weren't you supposed to protect him? And what's that thing in your arms? Is it Tokomon? Izzy?" Izzy tried to speak, but a lump in his throat blocked any noise from coming out. He cleared his throat and responded to Rika's questions.

"This is Patamon, he digivolved from Tokomon. One of the digidestined was attacking us, and T.K.'s digivice activated. He evolved to rookie, and then to this really powerful champion named Angemon. He was beating the digimon but then it attacked Terriermon and threw it off of a cliff. When Angemon went to save him. The digimon and his partner ran off and grabbed T.K. I tried to stop them but the digimon was too fast."

"So Devimon has him now." Tai said solemnly.

"Did you ever find his brother, Tai?" Rika addressed him.

"I doubt he did." Izzy commented.

"Why's that?" she questioned.

"T.K.'s brother Matt was the one who attacked us. He's one of the evil digidestined."

***

Devimon stood before his seven minions and their digimon. Furry filled every bone in his body. "Every damn one of them?" he yelled. "They've all digivolved? You imbeciles. How could you let this happen?"

"I'm sorry master." Ken spoke up. "I accept full responsibility. I didn't lead my team correctly and I allowed this horrible event to happen."

"Ken," the demon spoke softly but angrily, "Earlier today, only two of the digidestined's digimon had evolved, I had captured and recruited two of them, and we were on the brink of capturing the rest of them."

"I know master."

"Now there are six other humans on this island who have banded together and are attempting to destroy me and everything I've worked to create!"

"I know, sir."

"Ken, does it look like a give a damn about who's fault it is? You are all going to be severely punished!"

"Sir," Yolei spoke up this time, "I've been led to believe that we were at a severe disadvantage from the start."

"And how do you figure that?" Devimon growled.

"Sir, when I was about to capture the boy Izzy, I had Woodmon throw Terriermon down the mountain to make sure that he wouldn't be there to defend the boy. When Woodmon was about to implant a dark needle in him, the digivice activated, and it digivolved the Terriermon from a distance of over 200 feet. I think the digivices that these children have received are far more powerful than ours, and enabled them to digivolve their digimon in situations where we would be helpless." Devimon growled.

"Leopardmon, I should have known he would pull something like this." Devimon gripped his head to suppress the headache that was torturing him.

"Sir, despite our failings today, I do have some good news." Matt raised himself off of the ground.

"And what is that?"

"Well, while I wasn't able to stop the boy with the Patamon from digivolving, I was able to subdue and detain him." Matt snapped his fingers. The smaller door then opened, and a Hyugamon entered the room. He was holding T.K. in a tight grip. The boy was struggling to be let free.

"Let me go, you ugly freak!" T.K. fought hopelessly with the digimon, until he noticed who was in front of him. The sight of the seven evil digidestined frightened him enough at first, but when he set his eyes on Devimon, true fear set in on the boy for the first time. Devimon began to laugh.

"Ha Ha. Thank you Matt, Truly. A digidestined separated from his partner is virtually useless! Hyugamon, take the boy to the dungeon and lock him up in the deepest cavern you can find.

"Yes sir." the digimon replied mindlessly. He then exited the room.

"Matt!" The boy called to his brother in the other room as the Hyugamon departed down the stairs. "Matt, please help me! Why are you doing this? Matt! Matt! Matt!"


	7. Captivity

**Chapter Seven: Captivity**

Nanimon quietly opened the door and slipped onto the walkway. He ducked to the low wall facing the mountain and crawled forward. Ahead of him, a group of Gizamon were surveying a path above the farms. A faint red glow was reflecting off of the rocky bend. Nanimon quickened his pace and arrived at the watchmen.

"Have you figured out what it is?" Nanimon whispered to the group.

"No sir, but I have a suspicion that it's the tamers." The lead Gazimon replied.

"What leads you to this?" Nanimon mumbled, surprised.

"Well, the series of explosions earlier today indicates a battle occurred, and Devimon's armies don't stay in one place for too long. The only reason someone would be camping up there would be if the tamers were spying on us, trying to find a weak spot. There's also some rumors going around the farmlands about a human having entered their territory for a short time. Gazi3's checking it out."

"Damn tamers." Nanimon hissed. Then, without warning, the door behind them opened, and another Gazimon crawled towards the group.

"What did you find out?" Gazi1 questioned him. Gazi3 bowed to Nanimon as he passed, then positioned himself next to Gazi1 and reported the news.

"I questioned the villagers on the outer farms. They all told me that a human caused some sort of a commotion on Route X3, then ran through the farmlands to Route 4, where the fire is now."

"Damn it," Nanimon swore under his breath, "They are spying on us. They're probably planning on attacking soon."

"But sir, why would they expose themselves like that; running through the city and making their campsite obvious to us?"

"I don't know, Gazimon, but I'm not taking any chances. Keep a close eye on them and send me a message if they do anything weird. I'm going to prepare a strike force. We need to drive them away." The four Gazimon nodded to Nanimon, then he departed from the group. He opened the door leading into the wall's pathways, and entered. I'm gonna end this thing, he thought. I'm gonna end it now.

***

"There are three main hallways that I know of," Eric began his description as the others gathered around the fire positioned on the side of the path, "The main one goes from the entrance of the Citadel to the barracks. Another path splits from that one and goes somewhere that we didn't have the time to check out. The third one splits off from the main path also and leads to a pair of staircases that lead to the top of the citadel, where Devimon is." Eric was finishing his description of Devimon's citadel, which he had begun after describing the events that led him and Tentomon into the dark palace. "There are also a few dozen ogre digimon named Fugamon guarding the place. It's extremely dark in there too, and the control panel that opens the door and turns on the lights can only be accessed by someone that works for Devimon or that has those dark needles in them, as far as I could understand."

"So it's basically a fortress, except really creepy and impossible to break in instead of extremely hard?" Tai retorted.

"And T.K. is in there." Izzy added depressingly.

"At least he can't be affected by those dark needles." Kari added with optimism.

"So one of the dark needles hit you, right?" Rika questioned Eric with disbelief, "And it was inside of you for hours before Tentomon had the chance to pull it out?"

"What are you implying?" he replied, glaring back at her.

"Rika, if you're suggesting that the needle affected him, I can assure you that's not the case." Renamon defended the boy, "Digimon can sense dark needles and black gears, and there isn't one around us for miles."

"What's a black gear?" Eric added to Renamon's statement.

"It's what Devimon uses to take over most digimon," Agumon replied, "He only uses dark needles on humans and in-training digimon, because they're weaker."

"Agumon, can Devimon use the black gears to take over you guys?" Tai asked his partner.

"I don't think so. He's never tried it before."

"Well I hope he can't for your sake. It would be really hard to save your world if we didn't have a partner." He smiled at his digimon.

"I'm still pissed at you for that," Rika growled at the goggled pre-teen, "You made a promise that I have no intention of keeping, and you got these digimon's hopes up." Renamon began to reply to Rika, but Eric interrupted.

"Rika, that place has more security than POTUS* and Fort Knox combined. The only way we're going to save T.K. is if we take on Devimon and defeat him. I can't see any other way we'd be able to break into his castle unless he wasn't there to defend it." Rika sighed in anger and then turned away.

"What's a POTUS?" Tai asked.

"We're gonna need a lot of help if we want to stop Devimon and get T.K. I don't think our digimon can do it alone, especially since we have those other digidestined to deal with." Kari added with wisdom.

"We're just gonna have to ask Meramon and the metropolis for help," Gatomon replied, "I'm sure that once he discovers that we can help him, he'll jump at the chance to save T.K. And I don't think he'd be too bothered by taking on Devimon either."

"Who's Meramon?" asked Izzy.

"He's the ruler of the metropolis and the greatest leader this island's ever had. He's smarter and wiser than Devimon and soon he's going to outnumber him too, as soon as we join him."

"So, Rika, you have a problem with going against Devimon to save T.K.?" Tai asked semi-sarcastically, "Or how about to save all of the innocent digimon on this island?"

"It's just..." Rika had to force herself to admit this, "It's too dangerous. Those evil digidestined are too powerful. It took six of us just to defeat one of them. And that's not including however many digimon he's captured with the black gears. Even if we did join up with the digimon at the metropolis, I just don't think we'd be able to match the kind of power they have."

"Oh, sh..." Eric began to exclaim, but quieted down when he remembered the 8-year-old in the circle. The others turned to him as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cellular phone. "I completely forgot that I had this!" He said with excitement and embarrassment.

"You've had that all this time?" Rika yelled.

"Rika, quiet down," Tai whispered, indicating the upper levels of the mountain that housed Devimon and his minions.

"Do you want to yell at me or do you want me to call for help?" Eric laughed.

"What does that thing do Eric?" Tentomon asked.

"It let's humans communicate with each other over long distances. We can call someone now to get us out of this mess."

"I thought you said you were going to help us?" Tentomon said worriedly.

"Don't worry, Tentomon. Once we convince someone we're trapped on an island with dangerous monsters, which might be a little difficult, we can get the United Nations or someone to send some troops here. They'll take care of Devimon a lot more effectively than we can." He began to dial a number.

"Is that a smart phone?" Tai asked, looking at the sophisticated piece of equipment in Eric's palm.

"Not just a smart phone, a mini computer with an irregularly large hard drive and an up link to the cellular satellite network. This thing can reach anybody no matter where you are."

"Wow thats, well, spoiled is the only word I can think of."

"Don't give me that, my parents gave this to me after we moved from the States to Japan, kind of a "we're sorry" gift for moving me away from my friends, family, and my home of 10 years and making me learn one of the most difficult languages on the planet."

"Japanese isn't hard." Tai replied, rolling his eyes.

"It is for someone who speaks English," he retorted, holding up his finger to indicate to the group to be quiet.

"Hello, op-" he lowered the phone from his cheek. "No one's home." he said with a suprised look on his face.

"Who'd you call?" asked Kari.

"911**." The group was shocked. He then dialed another number, then raised the phone to his ear. An annoyed expression on his face indicated that number had failed as well. "So much for my parents. I'll call Dave." He dialed another number. It had the same result.

"Maybe you should try a text message." Tai suggested.

"Just a few more numbers, I'm sure someone will answer." He dialed another number. "411's out." another number. "American emergency line is busy too." He dialed another number. "Customer service, out." he dropped his arm, letting it fall to the ground.

"What's happening, are you just not reaching them?"

"No, I'm getting their answering machines, so I know I've got a connection." He tried another number, to no avail. "I guess it's time for that text message." He began typing into his phone. "Message failed to send." he hung his head in defeat.

"So much for super phone." Rika commented.

"Try leaving a message once you call someone." Kari suggested.

"It will probably just do the same thing as the text message."

"It all makes sense now." Izzy mumbled.

"What makes sense?" Tai asked.

"The phone, the email, what I saw when Terriermon was digivolving."

"You got an email?" Eric questioned, "From who? And what's it say?"

"It's not important what it says or who it's from, it's important where it came from."

"It seemed pretty important to me," Rika mumbled.

"The point is I got that email when I had no Internet connection, so it must have come from someone local, meaning on this island."

"So there are other humans here beside us?" Kari said excitedly.

"The evil digidestined." Eric added, bringing her down.

"No." Izzy replied, confusing the group. "That wasn't an email at all, it was a message from some digimon on this island. You see, the reason Eric could only get the voice mail of those numbers is that he's trapped in a certain network that's only semi-connected to the network we usually use."

"What?" the others asked as if Izzy was speaking Greek.

"We're trapped within a computer network that only has limited access to the phone and satellite systems of the world. It's like we've been downloaded into a computer that has almost no connection to the Internet."

"You're speaking metaphorically, right?" Eric asked.

"No. When Terriermon was digivolving I got a close look at that burst of light that came out of my digivice."

"Yeah, it was energy we shared with the digimon." Tai added.

"But it's the form that the energy was in that's important. It was made up of zeros and ones: computer code."

"You're joking, right?" Rika choked a laugh.

"Eric, what in Yggdrasil's name is he talking about?" Tentomon nagged his partner.

"It's complicated, and I'm going to ask you about that Yggdrasil thing later. Izzy, what you're saying is ridiculous. It's impossible for something like that to happen on Earth. For us to even fathom being combined with computer data we would have to be-"

"In a different dimension where the rules of physics are altered. That's exactly right." Izzy finished for him.

"This is like something out of a science fiction movie." Tai commented.

"Izzy, what your saying doesn't make any logical sense. First of all, all of us would have had to have come here through a wormhole, which is insane to think that most illusive scientific theory in history would open up in five different places in the world all at once. And we would have had to go through some horrible process where every single atom in our bodies would have had to have been combined with computer data which is isn't even contemplative-" Eric let out a long gasp. "Oh, God you're right."

"Did you know they both speak geek?" Rika whispered to Tai and Kari. Tai shook his head.

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Terriermon said tiredly as Renamon tended to his and Patamon's wounds near the wall.

"That's the only way the digimon could digivolve." Eric said to himself. Izzy nodded in agreement.

"And the email I recieved was a digimon's brainwaves becoming an electrical signal."

"So what are you saying, that we're just computer data in some virtual reality program?" Rika asked doubtful.

"No, we are in a world where data and molecules are combined." Eric said, having snapped out of his revelation. "That's the only way that a digimon could grow so rapidly. It would have to have a way to gather massive amounts of matter and assimilate it properly."

"And the only way it could do that is with the help of computer code and data streams."

"So instead of energy flowing through this universe, computer code takes over and does the same thing, except more efficiently."

"That explains, at least I think, what happened to that Ogremon when it died. It faded away as computer code." Tai added.

"I told you he was deleted." Agumon told the boy.

"Oh, this is torture." Rika grasped her forehead.

"So why is this important?" Kari asked.

"It's important because it means there's no way to communicate with the outside world." Eric replied.

"It also means that we have no way to get back home." added Izzy.

***

Nanimon pulled away from the bend in the path, making sure the tamers and their partners didn't hear him. He then signaled to the team behind him to begin sneaking forward. He raised his palm, signaling them to stop. He then pulled his head towards the bend again, listening for a good time to strike.

"So why are you so smart?' he heard a human ask.

"I take pre-A.P. Biology classes." another one replied. Nanimon realized they were not defending themselves. An evil smirk rose on his face. He waved the team behind him again. They came closer. He could now make out the shapes of Beetlemon and Apemon in the darkness behind him. He pulled his arm into his chest, signaling the attack.

"So is there anything good about this world?" Rika asked.

"What about us?" Gatomon said, offended.

"I just meant the world itself, not the digimon." Rika said apologetically.

"Well if we're right then I think I know of a way to power up our digi-" the path suddenly swarmed with digimon. They attacked the 11 lives, knocking them unconscious.

***

"Tai, Gatomon?" Kari slowly opened her eyes. She searched her surroundings and discovered that she was in a dank stone room with a row of metal bars blocking the path to the hallway. "A- prison?" she lifted herself off of the ground and walked to the jail door. She pressed her head as far out as she could. "Tai? Gatomon?" she called for her friends.

"Are you okay Kari?" she heard a voice question her. She glanced towards the noise and saw Eric forcing his head out of the prison cell.

"Eric! What's happening? Where are we?"

"You know the metropolis, that city full of all of those digimon we were going to help? They knocked us out and threw us in prison."

"Are you sure that we aren't at the citadel?"

"No, it's too cheery."

"How is it cheery?"

"This place has windows." Eric pointed behind him. Kari glanced back into her cell and noticed the small barred window filtering light down to the floor.

"Kari?" a cat-like voice suddenly arose farther down the prison hallway.

"Gatomon!" Kari said excitedly. "Are you okay?"

"I think so. What about you?"

"Kari, are you alright?" Tai had suddenly joined the conversation.

"Eric? Eric? Where are you?" Tentomon had awoken as well.

"Hey Tentomon, I'm over here." He stuck his arm out of the cell and waved.

"Is everybody okay?" Izzy had awoken as well.

"Damn, try to have a conversation and everybody jumps in."

"What the hell is going on here?"

"Rika's awake."

"Terriermon, Agumon, are you two okay?" Renamon asked her friends.

"I'm okay." Agumon replied.

"Does anyone know where Patamon is?" Terriermon asked.

"He's across from me." Kari was eyeing the unconscious digimon laying a few feet away from her. All of a sudden a door out of site from the digidestined and their digimon burst open and a pair of digimon walked in. As the pair came into view, the team could see a short, circular digimon walking next to a man-sized creature covered in flames. They walked past a few of the destined and positioned themselves so everyone could see them.

"Tamers," the fiery one growled, "I can't tell you how much it displeases me that you are in my presence. I am happy however that after all of the crimes you have committed on this world you will finally be brought to justice."

"What are you talking about?" Tai asked the angry digimon, "we're the ones who are trying to help you. The humans that you have a problem with just captured our friend and took him to that citadel on top of the mountain."

"Enough with your lies!" the shorter digimon yelled with a coarse voice. "You are all going to pay for what you've done even if I have to pick you apart piece by go-"

"Nanimon!" the fire digimon yelled at the shorter one. "That's enough."

"Sorry, Meramon." Nanimon broke eye contact with everyone.

"The fact of the matter is that all of you humans are criminals who have committed atrocious acts against the digimon of this peaceful island. Rest assured, you will get a fair trial, but you will almost certainly be convicted. Then we will dispose of you and try to find some way to free these digimon from the curse you have laid upon their souls." Meramon and Nanimon then began to walk out of the room.

"Meramon, please wait!" Gatomon called to the digimon. "We're not evil, you have to believe me. These humans were called to the digital world to help us, and they helped me and my friends digivolve, so now they won't be affected by the dark needles. If you don't believe me, just ask the refugees. They'll tell you that we aren't even the digimon the evil tamers have been using to take over the island. Please listen to me." Meramon turned his head away.

"That's enough out of you. They will be tried, they will be convicted, and they will be killed. End of story." Meramon and Nanimon exited the room and slammed the door shut.

"Someone's really got a black gear shoved up their ass." Rika remarked.

"Meramon's just looking in the best interest of the digimon that call this place home." Gatomon defended him. "He just doesn't realize that there are other humans here now besides the evil ones. I'm sure that something will convince him that we aren't evil."

"I wonder how he can call it a fair trial if everyone here hates us?" Eric added.

"You really think highly of him, don't you?" Kari asked the cat. She nodded.

"Why did he call us tamers?" Tai questioned.

"It's just another word for a human partnered with a digimon. There's not really a difference between tamers and digidestined." Agumon told his partner.

"Well it's a lot less annoying to say, at least."

"They took our digivices." Eric stated, changing the direction of the conversation. "I guess that means we won't be finding a way out of here anytime soon." An explosion outside Tai, Kari, and Izzy's windows suddenly attracted their attention.

"What was that?" Izzy said worriedly.

"I don't know." Tai replied. He turned around to the window above him. "I think I can check outside this window." Tai backed up and dashed up the wall, lifting himself a few feet before he started falling back towards the ground. He shot his arms up towards the window and latched on, lifting himself up to view the site.

"What's going on?" asked Eric and Rika, who were on the other side of the prison and could not discover the source of the noise.

"Wow." Tai remarked. "Kari, Izzy, check this out." he called.

"We're too short, Tai." Kari complained.

"You're gonna have to describe it to us pal. What's happening?" asked Izzy.

"There's a whole army of digimon closing in on the city. I think it's an invasion."

"And... we're stuck in prison. Great." retorted Eric.

"There's way too many digimon out there." said Tentomon, who was on the correct side of the jail and could observe the scene outside. "The walls won't stand a chance."

"Isn't there an army to defend this place?" asked Rika.

"Not that size." said Terriermon, who was also on the correct side of the jail.

"Hey, there's Zoe." Tai commented.

"Who?" asked Izzy.

"She's one of the evil tamers. She's leading the charge! Wow she's bold."

"Tai, you're admiration is a little unsuited." Izzy complained.

"What?" their conversation was brought to a halt when the jail door slammed open and Meramon stomped in, holding a brown bag.

"Change of plans," he announced, "Your execution begins now."

*POTUS: President of the United States

**911: I couldn't find the number of the Japanese emergency line so I just called it 911. Think of it as another thing in Japanese that has been translated into English.


	8. Courage

I've noticed that few people give my stories any reviews. If you have something to say about it please review, even if you think it sucks beyond imagination. I need some criticism so that my story doesn't become too bland.

**Chapter Eight: Courage**

"Execution? Whatever happened to a fair trial?" Eric complained as Meramon pulled a set of keys out of the bag he was holding. He dropped the bag and searched the ring for the key corresponding to the cage he was standing next to: the one holding Kari.

"I can't take the chance that your friends attacking the city will free you, and then cause even more chaos on my city. I'm making an emergency decision to execute you now so that we don't have to suffer later. Even if I'm overthrown because of this decision, I can't allow any more digimon to be harmed because of you." Meramon settled on a key. He then turned towards Kari's cell, forcing her to run to the back.

"Kari, no!" Gatomon yelled. She struck the cage with a strength she didn't know she had, shattering the bars. She then leaped onto Meramon and struck him with her paw.

"I don't think so!" Meramon grabbed the digimon on his shoulder and tossed her aside with force. She flung into Tai's cell, breaking a few of the bars. Meramon then yanked open Kari's cell and pulled the girl into the hallway.

"Kari, get away!" Tai yelled to his sister. He pulled at the broken bars near the bottom of his cell, creating a pathway out of the jail.

"Tai, help me!" Meramon raised his arm, ready to strike the girl. Tai slipped out of the cell and ran in front of Kari, blocking her with his arms.

"Don't hurt her! She's just a kid! If you want someone then take me. Leave my sister out of this!" Meramon was shocked at the boy's selfless act. Even more surprising was when a faint light began to glow in his chest.

***

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Devimon screamed in immense pain.

"Master, what's wrong?" Joe ran to the demon's aid.

"The- the pain!" Devimon dropped to the ground, clutching his stomach. He then felt a burning in his palm. He lifted his hand from his body and saw the most horrifying sight (in his perspective): a symbol in his skin resembling the sun had burned its way onto his body. The pain radiated from the symbol, eating away at Devimon.

"Damn it" Devimon watched helplessly as the symbol grew brighter and brighter. Just as the pain grew almost unbearable, it suddenly faded away. Devimon breathed heavily, relieved at the disappearance of the sensation. He looked down at his stomach; the symbol had etched itself into him, but the burning that had appeared with it had vanished.

"Master, what is that?"

"The... the crest. I don't believe it. It's beginning to glow." A noise behind him turned Devimon and Joe in the direction of the door. A Gotsumon had entered the chamber.

"What do you want!" exclaimed Devimon.

"Sir, I've found Joseph's partner." He snapped his fingers and a Bukamon entered.

***

Meramon stood over Tai and Kari, mesmerized. The symbol in his chest now shone brightly, unknown to everyone except Meramon. The shining crest convinced Meramon to release Kari's arm. He backed away slowly, confusing Tai and Kari. The crest then began to fade away.

"The courage," Meramon whispered.

"Just don't hurt her, please." Tai said humbly.

"Tai," Kari tried to join her brother.

"Kari, just get out of here. Grab Gatomon and get to safety."

"But-"

"Just do it."

"Please forgive me." Meramon suddenly intruded, surprising everyone in the room. "No one willing to sacrifice themselves so helplessly could possibly be evil. I cannot even describe to you how sorry I am."

"Um, is this- a trick?" Tai was stunned.

"No, you must believe how sorry I am. It is an honor to be in the presence of such courageous and virtuous hero such as yourself." he bent down and grabbed the key chain he had dropped onto the floor. "Please, free your friends and join me downstairs. You see the numbers on the keys correspond to the numbers over the cells." Meramon dropped the keys into Tai's hand and began to walk away. "Please, hurry, our city desperately needs you." He then departed from the doorway and climbed down a flight of stairs mostly out of sight from the siblings.

"Do you think- he's trying to play us?" Tai questioned.

"Well, he was about to kill me, and now he's helping us escape."

"Let's stop discussing it and take advantage of the situation before he changes his mind, okay?" Eric's hands were extending out of the cell, and he was pointing at the lock on the side of the gate.

"Right." Tai began flipping through the keys. He unlocked everyone's cells, releasing the group of 10.

"We should get downstairs. If they're gonna kill us, we might as well deal with it head on." Rika added.

"What about our digivices?" Eric asked. "We need them in order to protect ourselves."

"Hey, we forgot about Patamon." Izzy grabbed the key ring out of Tai's hand and opened the cell containing Patamon. He walked in and grabbed the unconscious digimon.

"Our digivices are right here." Kari waved to the others, pointing to a bowl on a desk outside of the hallway they were in. The group piled into the landing of the staircase and pulled their digivices out of the bowl.

"Let's get going." Tai began to walk down the stairs.

"Gatomon!" Kari then ran back into the jail room, where her partner was lying partially in Tai's old cell.

"I can't believe I forgot about you." She lifted the digimon up to her feet.

"Kari, you're okay." Gatomon said groggily.

"Meramon realized we were friends and let us out." Kari smiled at the digimon. Gatomon then supported stabilized herself on the floor. "Let's get out of here." Kari led her digimon to the rest of the group. The 5 humans and digimon then started down the stairs. The staircase was steep and long, reaching many floors and stopping at many landings.

"This is some prison." Tai commented.

"It's freaky is what it is." Eric added. "You would think that they wouldn't really have use for all of these cells. Damn."

"It's probably spares just in case they encounter some sort of problem. Like a dark digimon being unable to get rid of its gear." Agumon replied.

"You can do that?" asked Izzy. Agumon nodded. The group finally reached a landing that had no stairs extending down. A single door led to what was obviously the exit to the building. Tai walked up to the door. He closed his eyes and opened the door. The sun burst violently into the room. Tai opened his eyes to a the empty roadway ahead of them.

"Nobody's here." Tai noticed as he walked out into the old European style town that now circled them.

"They must all be near the wall, trying to defend the city." added Rika.

"We should go find Meramon." Kari suggested.

"We have no idea where he went, though."

"Hey! What took you so long?" The group raised their eyes at a group of three digimon gathered in an alley across the square. Meramon and Nanimon where there, as well as a tall, yellow lion-like digimon standing up-right. The group ran over to the trio.

"So you were serious." Tai laughed.

"Of course." Meramon was confused.

"We were a little worried this might be a trap." Eric added.

"Were?" Rika breathed.

"I'd like you to meet someone; this is Leomon, the head of our military." The large digimon extended his hand towards Tai, much to the annoyance of Nanimon.

"Meramon told me how you stepped in to save your sister, it takes real courage to do something so selfless." He complimented the boy, shaking his hand.

"Uh, thank you, sir." The other four tamers were staring awkwardly at Tai.

"So are you willing to help us defend our city?" Tai nodded. The other destined nodded in agreement.

"What? You can't be serious!" Nanimon yelled below everyone.

"Nanimon, control yourself." Meramon dismissed the digimon.

"No. I can't believe you, Meramon. They're human's for Yggdrasil's sake. They are up to no good, I know it. I just know it!" Nanimon panicked.

"Don't mind him, he's just had bad experiences with the evil tamers." Meramon dismissed.

"Join the club." Rika murmured. Nanimon grabbed his head in frustration.

"We would love to help, Leomon, but we're not exactly army material. And our partner's just digivolved over the last few days. I don't think we would be that great a help on the battle line."

"Don't worry, Tai. Someone with courage as great as yours is someone I can trust." Nanimon almost exploded with anger.

"Thank you." Tai nodded.

"The gate is just up this path, we can lead you there." Meramon pointed down the alley they were in. Gatomon then tugged at Kari's sleeve and whispered something in her ear.

"Hey, Gatmon needs her tail ring," Kari addressed Meramon. Earlier after the group had been captured, they removed the tail ring to weaken her. "She needs it to be strong enough to fight."

"Right," Meramon replied, "Nanimon, give her her tail ring."

"What?" Nanimon growled. "Meramon I can't in good conscious return something to someone partnered to a human. I will not partici-"

"Nanimon it wasn't a request! Give it to her now." Nanimon grumbled something and then slipped the ring off of his own finger.

"Here," He said angrily, tossing the ring at Kari. Gatomon quickly snatched the ring and slipped it back on her tail.

"I think I'll go on ahead of you and help out the troops." Eric stated, grabbing his digivice. "Is there any way I can tell the difference between your soldiers and Devimon's?"

"Devimon's soldiers have a dark aura around them when they gather together. Don't destroy them though. They are innocent digimon who were captured by the black gears. You can force the gears out with a little force."

"You gonna be okay by yourself Eric?" Tai asked the boy.

"Don't worry, Tai. Remember: brain beats brawn." he laughed. "You ready Tentomon?" the digimon nodded.

"Tentomon digivolve to... Kabuterimon!" Eric jumped onto the insects back.

"Hurry up and get going, we're going to need all the help we can get!" he yelled as Kabuterimon flew away. Tai then turned to Kari.

"Kari, I want you to stay here."

"What? No way, I'm going."

"Kari, please don't argue with me. I just want to make sure you don't get into any trouble."

"Then how am I supposed to help?"

"Gatomon will come with us. You'll be there in spirit." Kari groaned at Tai's comment.

"You should stay here too, Izzy." Terriermon added as he jumped from the boy's shoulder, "Someone needs to protect Kari and Patamon, just in case something happens."

"I hate to admit it but you're right." Izzy grabbed his digivice, activating it.

"Terriermon digivolve to... Gargomon!"

"Gargomon, go help out Eric and Kabuterimon." the rabbit nodded and then dashed away.

"Well then Tai I guess it's just you and me." Rika remarked. She and Tai then activated their digivices.

"Renamon digivolve to... Kyubimon!"

"Agumon digivolve to... Greymon!" Tai and Rika then leaped onto their respective digimon and dashed towards the gate along with Gatomon.

"You two can observe the battle if you want. Nanimon will take you up to a safe spot on the roof." Meramon nodded to Nanimon.

"We would appreciate it." Izzy thanked him.

"Show them the way, Nanimon." Nanimon grumbled and walked ahead of them.

"This way." He growled, walking down another alley. Izzy and Kari followed. Behind them, Leomon and Meramon had run towards the battle.

***

"Alright, Eric. Should I just start blasting?" Kabuterimon had conferred with his partner.

"I think we should try to find a strategic target. Try looking for someone yelling a lot and waving their arms instead of fighting or walking."

"Okay." Kabuterimon zoomed over the evil digimon, out of range from their attacks. They spotted a Tyrannomon supporting a Mojyamon on his head. The Mojyamon was making dramatic gestures towards the hundreds of digimon behind him.

"See that digimon right there, the white furry one; he's a battalion leader. He's leading those men to the back of the battle line to support anyone in front of him who's having a hard time. If we take him out, we basically take out that entire battalion since there will be no one to lead them."

"Wont they just join other groups?"

"Yeah but if we take the leaders of those battalions out then slowly there will be too many troops for the officers to handle."

"Where do you get this stuff?"

"My dad's under the impression that I want to go to West Point, so he's grooming me."

"I'll ask what that means later."

"Hey, Kabuterimon!" a voice called from the outskirts of the battle lines. They scanned the area and spotted Gargomon circling the evil army. Kabuterimon glided over there to speak with the digimon.

"Izzy sent me back here to help you!" he yelled.

"Good because we really need a two pronged attack." Eric yelled down to him. "Do you think you can start attacking that white digimon-"

"Mojyamon." Kabuterimon stated.

"That Mojyamon riding on top of that big red digimon-"

"Tyrannomon."

"On top of that Tyrannomon?"

"Okay!"

"Wait for my signal!" the pair was now behind the unit, chasing them.

"Kabuterimon, how effective would your attack be on a massive amount of digimon like those Fugamon?" Eric pointed to the left side of the unit, which was composed of the ogre digimon.

"Extremely, if they don't see it coming."

"Well they definitely noticed us, so I guess that's out."  
"Probably not." Kabuterimon commented. "These digimon are like mindless zombies, they jump on any target they see. If that Mojyamon had seen you, he would have signaled his soldiers to attack by now."

"That's... that's just perfect." Eric laughed in relief. "Okay, Terriermon-"  
"Gargomon."

"Gargomon, attack now!" the rabbit digimon raised its arms, aiming at Mojyamon.

"Gargo Laser!" the attack radiated from Gargomon's arms, blasting into Mojyamon's side. The digimon screamed in pain as it fell over, grasping Tyrannomon's head to stop itself from falling.

"Keep going!" Eric yelled. "Now Kabuterimon, send a blast at those Fugamon in the upper right corner." Kabuterimon nodded, shaking Eric in the process.

"Electro-Shocker!" Kabuterimon crossed his arms and tossed the electric attack at the Fugamon. They turned just in time to see the attack coming. It knocked them all onto the ground, forcing the Fugamon behind them to topple over each other.

"They definitely know we're here now." Eric nodded at the Mojyamon, who was now instructing his army to turn around and attack the Kabuterimon. "Gargomon, stop attacking!" Gargomon dropped his arms and continued circling the force.

"Kabuterimon, attack Mojyamon!"

"Electro-Shocker!" Kabuterimon launched another attack, this time towards Tyrannomon's head. Mojyamon was ready for this attack. He pulled a bone club out of his back and knocked the sphere away.

"Gargomon, physical attack now!" Gargomon understood. He leaped from his position, bouncing on top of the evil digimon in the process. Mojyamon was too distracted to see the digimon leaping across his army. The digimon under Gargomon were shocked at the attack and were toppling over each other as well. Mojyamon turned towards the commotion to his right just in time to see Gargomon leap towards him and smash his fist into Mojyamon's gut. A black light burst out of Mojyamon's back and a black gear sailed out of his body and flew into the distance, disintegrating.

***

"Nova Blast!" Greymon's attack smashed down the enemy line as they tried to close in on the city gates. Without the support of the city's army, who had flanked the main bulk of the enemy forces to cause a surprise attack, Greymon, Kyubimon, and Leomon had been forced to accept the responsibility of guarding the metropolis' gate.

"Rika, have you noticed how weak some of these enemies are?" Tai asked the girl to his right. "Even we can beat them."

"I don't really care why they can't fight for crap, as long as we're winning. The sooner we take care of these boneheads the sooner we can go rescue T.K." Leomon then jumped from his line on the battle field to Tai and Rika, who were standing near the gate to the metropolis.

"These black gears aren't really that efficient," Leomon explained, "usually they only focus on either power or control, sacrificing one in the process."

"So these morons are completely under Devimon's control, but they're not that strong?" asked Tai.

"Exactly." Leomon then rejoined Greymon, Gatomon, and Kyubimon.

"Fox Tail Inferno!" Kyubimon's attacked knocked nine enemy Frigimon and Monochromon to the ground.

"Walk all over them, Kyubimon!" Rika cheered.

"Greymon, one of them is flying towards you!" Tai yelled to his partner. Greymon lifted his head in time to see a pair of Airdramon racing towards the dinosaur.

"Heh, piece of cake. Nova Blast!" Greymon's attack flew towards the digimon. They quickly dodged, though, sending the flaming attack harmlessly between them. "Aw, damn." Leomon jumped to his defense. The lion leaped onto Greymon's head and launched himself towards the dragons. He pulled a sword from his hip and spun around quickly, slicing the two digimon. They crashed to the ground, unconscious but alive. Leomon then flipped his feet towards the ground and pounced on a Raremon under him, knocking the sludgy digimon out as well.

"Be careful." Leomon called to Greymon.

"Sorry. Nova Blast!" Greymon knocked out a pair of Veggiemon.

"See if you can take out the black gears, Greymon." Kyubimon suggested to her friend. "If we turn them good again they could help us and increase our numbers." Greymon nodded.

"They don't need our help at all, do they?" Tai asked rhetorically.

"Apparently not."

"Nova Blast!"

"Lightning Paw!"  
"Fox Tail Inferno!"

"Fist of the Beast King!" Leomon fired a beam of lion shaped energy at his opponents.

"I think we're winning!" Tai yelled excitedly, just as the ironic twist set in. From the battle lines Seadramon emerged, towering over the three hero digimon.

"Does the word jinx mean nothing to you?" Rika growled.

***

"Here comes another one!" Gargomon yelled at the tamer team flying above him. Kabuterimon swerved to avoid the three incoming fire balls that had been fired at Eric and the insect by a herd of Tyrannomon. The attacks crashed together in a crater to the left of Kabuterimon and Gargomon.

"They definitely know we're here now!" Eric screamed in panic. After dismantling a few battalions of evil digimon, the clueless digimon had rallied together to attack the only enemy they could find: Gargomon and Kabuterimon. A massive force of over a thousand evil digimon now chased the two towards the main battle. "I'm really sorry about this Kabuterimon!"

"Hey, what about me? I'm the one trapped on the ground!" Gargomon yelled up to the tamer.

"Shouldn't you have expected something like this?" Kabuterimon questioned the boy on his back.

"Truth be told I didn't even think about it."

"I thought you said you knew what you were doing!"

"I never said that. I said I had a little bit of training in military tactics from what my father and grandpa taught me!"

"And that's not enough?"

"Obviously not!"

"Hey, when you're done arguing up there, can you find a way to get me out of here?" Gargomon was quickly being overrun by a pack of Fangmon. "Gargo Laser!" Gargomon took a second to enter a spinning attack that knocked the wolf digimon out. He then continued his flight.

"Kabuterimon, grab Gargomon and then fly up into the air where you'll be out of range of the Tyrannomon!"

"Is this going to get me killed?" both digimon asked at the same time.

"I'll be on Kaubterimon's back, so any attack will probably hit me first!"

"Okay then!" Kabuterimon said excitedly. He then swooped down and grabbed Gargomon in his many arms.

"You find comfort in that?" Kabuterimon faded away into the clouds, protected from the vicious attacks of the drone digimon.

"See, it worked." Eric stated. Then, out of nowhere, Kuwagamon rammed into Kabuterimon, knocking Gargomon out of his arms and sending the digimon spiraling towards the earth.

"This is really ironic...!" He yelled one last message before falling through the clouds to the cushion of evil digimon below.

***

Seadramon smashed his tail into Leomon, sending him crashing into the wall of the metropolis. Leomon crumbled to the ground, unconscious from the evil general's attack.

"Time for the kill, Seadramon." Zoe stated. Seadramon opened his mouth to prepare for attack. Greymon and Kyubimon leaped in front of the knocked out leader, protecting him from Seadramon and his vicious tamer.

"You two honestly think you can defeat me?" Seadramon laughed.

"No." Kyubimon stated. "But she can." Seadramon's smirk vanished from his face.

"Lightning Paw!" Gatomon's unseen attack crashed into Seadramon's jaw, knocking him onto the ground. Zoe clutched onto the digimon's head, stopping herself from rolling into the raging mob of good and evil digimon behind her.

"Seadramon, take care of this quickly!" Seadramon recovered more easily this time, springing off of the ground and towering over the hero digimon.

"You can't beat all of us- Fox Tail Inferno!"

"Nova Blast!"

"Lightning Paw!" As the three attacks rocketed towards Seadramon, Zoe laughed.

"Tail Swifter!" Seadramon swung his tail at the projectiles, tossing Gatomon through the gate and crashing her into a building, while throwing Greymon and Kyubimon's attacks right back at them. The fire smashed the two digimon in the face, de-digivolving them into Agumon and Renamon.

"No!" Tai ran over to Agumon's aid. "Let's get out of here now!" Tai tugged at the digimon.

"Tai, wait!" Agumon pointed at Seadramon. The extremely fast digimon had snatched up Renamon and Rika in his tail and was holding them hostage.

"Let them go right now!" Tai yelled at the girl on top of the sea snake.

"That's not gonna happen, but if you want to see them alive again," Zoe snapped her fingers, signaling Seadramon to constrict its grip on Renamon and Rika. The two groaned in pain. "Then you'll do as I say and turn yourselves in."

"Tai; get-me-out of here!" Rika groaned as Seadramon tightened his grip. Tai grated his teeth in anger. Seeing no other way out of the situation, as he was outnumbered and overpowered, he dropped his head.

"All right, I'll come with you."

"Tai, no!" Agumon yelled at his partner.

"It's the only way to save Rika and Renamon."

"What if she's lying and she has no intention of hurting them?"

"Something tells me she doesn't bluff."

"You've made a good choice." Zoe smiled. She then snapped her fingers again, instructing Seadramon to toss the two in his grip onto the ground, shocking Tai.

"You said-" Tai's words were cut short as Seadramon's tail scooped up Rika and Renamon again, grabbing him and Agumon in the process. Seadramon strengthened his grip on the four, barely giving them any way to breathe.

"Troops, retreat. We got what we came for!" Zoe yelled to the mass of dark aura digimon behind her. Seadramon then began to slither away from the battle, following a path that led up the mountain. Behind them, a stampede of evil digimon was running away from the metropolis.

***

"Kabuterimon, get away from him!" Kuwagamon was pelting Eric's partner with numerous attacks. Kabuterimon could not recover from Kuwagamon's attacks, and a final fist to the gut finished off the digimon, sending him spiraling towards the earth.

"Oh, this is gonna hurt." Eric stared down at the ground speeding towards him. He grabbed a hold of something under his shirt and murmured what he thought were his last words.

"Don't worry, Eric, I can survive a crash like this-" Kabuterimon held himself together long enough to crash onto the ground, saving Eric from crashing into the hard earth below. Eric rolled off of Kabuterimon just as the digimon shone brightly, de-digivolving. Eric breathed a sigh of relief.

"Tentomon, are you okay?"

"Aside from the bruise on the front of my body- no." Tentomon was curled in a ball, trying to survive the pain. Eric crawled over to him, supporting the damaged digimon as it de-digivolved again into Motimon.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out of here." Eric grabbed the small pink digimon and began to run away from the crash site. His surroundings stopped him though. He just noticed that Gargomon was struggling to stand up to his left when a mass of evil digimon congregated around the three. A buzzing noise that attracted Eric's attention signaled to him that Kuwagamon and Henry were arriving at the scene as well.

"Gargomon, get out of here, now." Eric whispered to the bunny-dog, who had finally lifted himself off of the ground.

"What?"

"Get out of here and make sure everyone else is safe."

"What, I'm not going to leave you here to die."

"We won't die."

"How do you know."

"Because I'm sure Devimon is gluttonous for revenge, and I think he'll want to take it out on us personally. So make sure everyone else is safe. Me and Tentomon escaped that place once, and we can do it again- this time with T.K." Gargomon realized how determined the boy was. Gargomon looked around him; the evil army of digimon was still gathering, and there were large gaps in the crowd. Kuwagamon hadn't landed yet either.

"Good luck." Gargomon leaped from his position and dashed through the huge crowd before they realized what was happening. Gargomon escaped the immediate crowd and then circled around the rest of the evil troops, safe from their attacks. Behind him, Kuwagamon had landed near Eric and Motimon.

"You let your friend escape: how noble." Henry mocked the pre-teen. He jumped off of Kuwagamon's back. "I'm gonna make you pay for making a fool out of me." He and Eric exchanged glares. A rumbling sound behind Henry attracted the crowd's attention. Zoe and Seadramon suddenly slid by, with a force of digimon behind them.

"Grab the ones you have and get back to the Citadel now!" Zoe sped up, leaving the masses of digimon behind. Henry looked beyond the mindless soldiers, freezing his breath in terror when he saw the mass of thousands of metropolis troops chasing them.

"Kuwagamon, grab them now." Kuwagamon snatched Eric and Motimon before he could even process what was happening. Henry jumped onto his partner's back and signaled for all of the digimon to move out. Kuwgamon himself flew into the air and sped towards the citadel.

***

Okay I know that I've spent a little too much time on my new character, so in my next chapter I'm just going to knock him down a few notches and give some other people much needed face time. Remember to review, even if you think it sucks.


	9. Frying Pan, meet Fire

**Chapter Nine: Frying Pan, meet Fire**

Gatomon lifted herself from the ground, cringing at the pain from the bruise she had sustained. After crashing into the building inside the city gate, Gatomon had slowly faded in and out of consciousness. Unable to move, she watched helplessly as Seadramon swept up Tai and Rika and slithered away.

"Ugh," Gatomon groaned as she started walking towards the open gate. She passed the threshold just as Gargomon sped into view. He pulled himself back, coming to a complete stop just before he could slam into Gatomon. Behind him, a thick cloud of dust settled onto the ground.

"Gatomon, what happened?"

"Seadramon attacked us. We tried to fight him but he was just too strong. He took the others. Where's Eric and Kabuterimon?"

"Kuwagamon grabbed them." Gatomon sighed in response.

"We need to find Kari, Izzy, and Patamon, and make sure that they're safe." Gargomon walked past Gatomon and headed into the city. Gatomon turned around to follow him, but the crippled body of Leomon caught her eye.

"Oh, no." Gatomon stumbled over to the weakened leader, waving at Gargomon to gain his attention. Gargomon spotted the digimon as well, running over to him.

"Leomon, you okay?" Gargomon lifted the digimon's back to support him.

"As-as good as someone-who..." Leomon's words died off, the cynical remark fading away with him.

"Let's get him back into the city." Gatomon wrapped her arms around the digimon's legs. Gargomon grabbed Leomon's back. Together they carried the digimon into the safety of the metropolis' walls, leaning him against a building not far from the gate.

"Go close the gate, we don't want anyone getting in that isn't supposed to be here." Gargomon dashed off, grabbing the two metal doors and slamming them shut. "Leomon, are you going to be alright?"

"I think so, I just need to get to the medical center."

"We might not have that long," Gargomon ran back to the two feline digimon, "we need to make sure Kari and Izzy are safe."

"We can't leave Leomon here by himself."

"It's okay, Gatomon. Now that I'm inside the city, someone will find me soon and get me some help. They have regular patrols near the gate. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Leomon nodded to Gatomon's question.

"Let's go Gatomon." the feline left Leomon's side and joined Gargomon. "Do you know where they were supposed to be?"

"Meramon told Nanimon to bring them to the wall so they could watch the battle." Gargomon nodded, and then started running down the length of the wall. Gatomon dashed after him. They ran down the wall for a few minutes and then encountered a door that led to a stairway. The two ran up the winding staircase and encountered a trap door. They knocked the door open and leaped onto the pathway that ran along the length of the massive stone structure. Gargomon and Gatomon then ran down the path, drawing closer to the side of the wall facing the quickly dissipating battle.

"There they are!" Gargomon yelled, pointing his weapon towards a series of five specs in the distance.

"Who else is with them?" Gatomon questioned.

"I don't know, let's hurry up."

***

"Nanimon, what's going on?" Kari questioned the digimon, who was conversing the with pair of Unimon who had flown to their position. Nanimon nodded a few times to their whisperings and then turned around to confront the two humans and the unconscious digimon.

"I knew you all were up to no good, attacking Leomon like that. You're going back to the prison where I knew you belonged."

"What are talking about?" Izzy said, taken aback, "We've been up here with you the whole time. How could we have attacked anybody?"

"I have witnesses who will testify that your digimon attacked and almost killed Leomon, leaving him to die near the city gate! You're evil, and this proves it!"

"That's not true at all," Kari protested, "There must be some mistake. Gatomon would never hurt anyone from this city. She looks up to all of you."

"Enough of your lies!" Nanimon snapped his fingers, telling the Unimon to walk up behind him. "Capture those two and throw them in lockup!" The two Unimon flew over Kari and Izzy.

"Kari, run now!" Izzy pushed the girl down the path, forcing her to run away. Izzy followed behind, clutching the weakened Patamon in his arms. The Unimon were too fast for them though. The first one glided ahead of Kari, cutting her off. The second one grabbed Izzy's shirt with his teeth, yanking the boy back. "Let go of me!" He yelled.

"That's not gonna happen," the Unimon holding him mumbled.

"Please, we're not your enemies. We're trying to help this world!" Kari proclaimed to the Unimon ahead of her.

"Liar!" Unimon opened his mouth to grab the girl.

"Lightning Paw!"

"Gargo Laser!"

The two attacks came out of nowhere, knocking the two Unimon off of their feet.

"What's going on here?" Gargomon yelled as he landed in front of Izzy, blocking him from Unimon's grasp.

"You and your scum partners maliciously attacked General Leomon, and now we will arrest and kill you, you heartless bastards."

"We didn't attack him!" Gatomon yelled, pushing Kari closer to Izzy and Gargomon. "Leomon was attacked by Seadramon, and we pulled him back into the city so he would be safe!"

"No one believes you." Nanimon smiled as the two Unimon lifted themselves off of the ground, surrounding the four tamers/digimon. Gargomon growled: he may have landed a heavy blow with a surprise attack, but in a fair fight the Unimon would quickly overpower them.

"Gatomon?" Kari said nervously behind her partner.

"We will get out of this, Kari." Gatomon glared at the horse-like animal in front of her.

"I'd like to see you try." The Unimon laughed.

"Now grab them and take them to the prison." Nanimon commanded. The two digimon pulled their heads back to attack. Gatomon and Gargomon entered a defensive pose.

"You aren't going to be taking those four anywhere." a voice from behind them said ominously. Nanimon and the Unimon facing Izzy turned around, revealing the figure behind them to Izzy and Gargomon. Kari looked back as well, but Gatomon stood face to face with her Unimon defensively. Behind the group a few yards away stood Woodmon, and behind him Yolei. They stared evilly at the seven preparing for battle. Behind Kari, the second Unimon was stunned, and he began stumbling backwards.

"You're not trying to leave, are you?" Unimon jerked around, as well as the others who were staring at Woodmon. Garurumon and Matt were blocking the other path down the wall.

"What a surprise, evil tamers coming to the rescue of their evil friends. Who knew you cowards could be so bold."

"What are you talking about?" Yolei laughed, "They're your friends, not ours. Woodmon, take the Unimon and Nanimon out." Woodmon and Garurumon closed in on the group.

"Get them!" The Unimon sprung from their positions overlooking the digidestined and confronted Woodmon and Garurumon.

"Howling Blaster!" Garurumon's attack crashed into Unimon2's back, knocking him down. Unimon then threw himself up, stabbing Garurumon with his horn.

"Branch Drill!" Woodmon rushed at Unimon1, but the digimon widened it's jaw and grabbed the digimon's arm, stopping him.

"Gargomon," Izzy whispered to his partner, "This is our chance, grab me and Kari and let's get out of here." Gargomon silently nodded. He placed himself between Kari and Izzy, watching the two battles to make sure they weren't watching. He then wrapped his arms around the two children, hoisting them up. Gatomon silently jumped onto Gargomon's back.

"Hold on tight." Gargomon whispered. Gargomon then leaped of of the side of the wall, falling down to the earth below, away from the city and the battle brewing on the platform above. His actions were unobserved by the malicious digimon above him.

***

"It's so dark." Tai murmured. "I don't think there's a light in this place." Tai was referring to the darkness of Devimon's citadel. He, Rika, and Eric had been thrown into separate cells, far away from Agumon, Renamon, and Motimon's locations. Their digivices had been taken away as well.

"Close your eyes." Eric told the boy from another cell a few yards away. "If you keep them open and you can't find any light, it'll drive you insane."

"Is that another wonderful lesson from your military family?" Rika commented sarcastically.

"No, something a tour guide at a cave told me." Rika sighed at Eric's words. "Maybe we'll get lucky though. We could go so insane that we start to hallucinate and imagine television." Eric chuckled.

"Stop making jokes." Rika said dryly. "I don't want to hear it."

"I'm just trying to lighten the mood, Rika. It's too depressing down here, I don't want to get so depressed I go into a coma."

"Damn it, just shut up!" Rika yelled. Although she couldn't see it, Eric flinched at her outburst. "What the hell is your problem? This isn't some game or movie. You're not the goofy guy on the side who provides comic relief to keep the gang in a good mood. We're a bunch of kids who were ripped out of our lives and given this huge responsibility that we're not ready for. Lives are at stake, and all you're doing is joking around!"

"You think I don't understand what's going on here?" Eric had stood up and felt his way to his cell's bars. "You don't think that I'm scared to death that something is going to happen to me, or Motimon, one of you guys, or T.K.? I know this isn't a game, Rika, but I can't just sit here, being dreary about every thing, otherwise I'm going to go insane!"

"She's right Eric." Tai interrupted. Eric and Rika both turned in the direction the sound came from. "You're not helping anyone. We're in an almost hopeless situation. You shouldn't be acting like a damn jester. It's just not the time." Eric, shocked by Tai's decision to back Rika, backed away from the metal bars of his cell and sat back down against the wall.

"You're right, I'm sorry." Eric whispered. His soft words echoed loudly against the empty walls of the dungeon. "We're in a virtual hell, here, and I've been acting like an ass."

"It's alright." Tai assured him. "It's just your nature."

"It's not just that, Tai. I've been so damn selfish ever since I got here. I thought I was trying to help everyone else, but I think every thing I did was entirely in my own self-interest."

"That's not true. You put yourself in extremely dangerous situations to help all of us."

"No. When we were trapped on that cliff, I wanted to get away so desperately. When I attacked Stingmon, I kept telling myself that I was doing it to help you escape, but I knew and still know that I was just trying to get out of there."

"I told you." Rika said angrily.

"Rika, don't-" Tai was cut off.

"She's right Tai. I think I've put you guys in more danger acting this way. I put everyone in danger when I ran off to confront the army attacking the metropolis. I thought I was helping since I had a little bit of training, but I just got you two captured, and I almost got Kabuterimon and Gargomon killed. Motimon's in really bad shape right now because of me. I can't believe I'm so stupid!" Eric knocked the back of his head against the wall.

"Just forget about it, okay?" Rika mumbled.

***

"Devimon sir," Joe walked up to his master, who was watching a battle ensue in the training pit.

"What is it Joe?"

"An Airdramon just came in and reported that Yolei and Matt have failed their objective. The last two digidestined escaped and are somewhere on the mountain."

"No doubt making their way up here to try and save their friends."

"What do you want to do, sir?" Devimon sighed, then looked into the almost empty room below him. This area was the only room in the entire castle that was fully lighted, so Devimon could examine it properly. He watched below as Ikkakumon and Tyrannomon dealt vicious attacks on each other, training each other for future battles.

"Ikkakumon's training seems to be progressing very well, don't you think?"

"Uh, yes sir. He's doing very well."

"Do you think he deserves a break?"

"Um, if you feel that's best, sir." Devimon walked over to a panel sitting on a pole near the edge of the landing he was on, which overlooked the training pit. He pressed a button on the panel, activating the intercom.

"Ikkakumon, Tyrannomon, stop training and take a break. Tyrannomon grab a training blindfold and stand front and center." Devimon relieved the button on the panel, deactivating the PA system. Ikkakumon crawled over to the drinking fountain while Tyrannomon walked over to a large box at the edge of the arena. He pulled a large, dark, sheet out of the box which was used for sensory training. He then dragged his large body in front of Devimon, bowing to his master.

"Place it on." Tyrannomon complied.

"What are you doing, master?" Joe questioned.

"You see Joe, I don't need to waste anymore time hunting down these digidestined and wasting our efforts when they seem to get away every time. So instead of sending a force of digimon to capture them, I'm going to send one digimon who just destroys everything he sees." Devimon raised his arm, aiming it at the Tyrannomon. A series of nine black gears then formed out of Devimon's limb and flew towards the unsuspecting servant.

***

Meramon dragged his defeated comrade towards the city gate. The beaten Apemon mumbled something as they made their way back to the safety of the walls, persuading Meramon to stop and check on the digimon.

"Apemon, what is it?" Meramon leaned down to hear the digimon's quiet words.

"Why-why did they attack? Did-they do any serious damage?" Apemon's words were tired and far apart.

"No, my friend. They didn't take anything. They just attacked us for no apparent reason. We defeated as many of their soldiers as they defeated ours."

"So, it was all for nothing?" Apemon leaned back, too tired to continue speaking.

"Come on, buddy, let's get you home." Meramon continued to pull Apemon to safety, passing the countless other survivors who were dragging other victims of the attack back to the city. While pulling his comrade, he noticed that it was becoming increasingly easier.

"Apemon?" Meramon looked back at his friend, and his face dropped in horror. His legs were quickly fading away into data. "Apemon, no!" He turned around to comfort the digimon.

"It's... okay... Meramon..." Apemon slowly faded away, "I'll... I'll see you... in a few...." Apemon's data fully faded, dissipating into the air. Meramon smashed his fist into the ground in anger.

"Devimon," he growled. Meramon's anger had more than tripled due to the fact that ever since Devimon had appeared on the island, not one fallen digimon had come back as a digi-egg. Meramon had lost countless soldiers and friends due to the wrath of the dictator, and now somehow he was preventing them from returning as fresh digimon.

"Damn it."

"Meramon!" a voice snapped the ruler out of his angry trance. He lifted his head to see a Centarumon galloping towards him.

"What is it?"

"It's Leomon." Meramon's face filled with dread.

"No." he lifted himself up and sped towards the city, the Centarumon close behind. He made it to the city gate in record time to see a crowd gathered in front of the Transport Service.

"Leomon!" Meramon yelled as he pushed his way through the crowd. He made it to the center to see his friend leaning against the building, close to death.

"No, my friend, how did this happen?"

"The digi... the digi-destined..." Leomon drifted off.

"Where's the medic?" Meramon screamed to no one in particular.

"They're coming sir." Nanimon appeared behind him.

"Nanimon, go check on our tamer friends. Make sure none of them were hurt. I don't want-" Nanimon cut the ruler off.

"I'm afraid that wont be possible sir."

"Why not?" Meramon growled.

"They were the ones that did this to him."

"You lie!" Meramon twisted around and towered over the other digimon.

"I'm not sir. I have plenty of witnesses who all claim to have seen the digidestined beat our general, and then leave him by this building to die."

"I- I can't believe it. But the crest of courage-"

"It must have been false sir. He must have been using some other power to convince you to let them go."

"I can't believe this, where are they now?"

"They escaped with their allies sir. It seems the invasion was just a ploy to free them from our grasp."

"And I fell for it." Meramon shed tears of flame.

"No one blames you Meramon, any one of us would have been fooled by that false crest within the boy."

"But not you, Nanimon. You saw through them from the start. I'm sorry I didn't believe you before."

"Let's leave the past in the past, Meramon, and just focus on the future. I think we need to mount a counter attack on the citadel. A well executed one that will cause minimum casualties on our end."

"I agree. Call the war room together, we have some planning to do." Nanimon smiled evilly and turned towards the capitol building. Finally, he thought.

***

"Harpoon Torpedo!" Devimon watched as Joe's Ikkakumon efficiently defeated the countless training enemies who were entering the arena.

"Your Ikkakumon is gaining strength much faster than I anticipated, Joe. I'm very- I guess proud of you two. If you keep going like this I might just have to place a new team leader for the tamers."

"Thank you for your kind words, master." Joe bowed his head in respect, "But I don't think I'm anywhere close to Ken or Yolei's strength and wisdom."

"We shall see." Devimon smiled. The unfortunate events that had occurred over the past few days were beginning to reconcile themselves. Most of the new digidestined had been captured, the metropolis was in shambles, and soon he would have consumed enough digi-cores to ascend to Myotismon. Everything was going according to plan. While he was chuckling on the inside about his successes, a Pipismon flew in to give him some news.

"Sir, I just received word that DarkTyrannomon was dropped onto the mountain successfully. His blindfold was taken off and the Airdramon who transported him escaped safely before the digimon could attack them. Also, your lunch is ready."  
"Perfect." Devimon was filled with glee. "Joe, have some guards bring the new tamers to my chamber. I need to kill them now just in case by some miracle DarkTyrannomon fails and the other tamers make it up here safely."

"Yes sir." Joe walked away, towards the door. Pipismon followed. Devimon couldn't suppress his laughter. He bellowed his happiness to the entire arena. Everything was once again going according to plan.

***

"This way." Gargomon whispered to the digidestined behind him. Gargomon led the group around a bend in the mountain that led up to the citadel. "Just a few more corners and we'll be at this huge partially flat field. It has tons of big boulder's that we'll be able to hide behind."

"Izzy, do we even have a plan for how to get the others out of that castle?" Kari whispered to the boy in front of her.

"Not yet Kari, but we will think of something. We just need to get somewhere safe from Nanimon and Devimon's forces." Gargomon pulled his arm back, indicating to the others to stop. Izzy, Kari, and Gatomon shoved themselves into the wall of the mountain, waiting for Gargomon to tell them when it was safe. He lowered his hand a few seconds later.

"An Airdramon just passed by, but we're safe now." Gargomon headed around another bend of the mountain. The others followed. They created a chain that was slowly winding around the mountain, until Gargomon stopped them again.

"This is where the field is." Gargomon slowly peered around the corner. "It looks clear, let's go." Gargomon turned the corner, walking slowly into the partially horizontal plane, leading the others. As Izzy, Kari, and Gatomon made their way onto the less exposed area of the mountain, Garogmon suddenly jerked back, trying to shove the three back onto the mountain path.

"Gargomon whats-" Izzy's eyes suddenly widened as he saw what Gargomon had tried to get them away from.

"It's too late now. He sees us." Gargomon complained.

"What is that?" asked Kari, looking at the behemoth that now towered above them.

"It's a DarkTyrannomon." Gatomon replied. The fear in her voice brought no comfort to her human partner.

***

T.K. began crying, just like he had done a thousand times over the past two days. He wasn't crying because of the darkness, nor because of the fact that he was in a prison, nor because deep down he knew what fate awaited him. He was crying for his brother. The other thoughts escaped him as he contemplated how his brother could have possibly turned evil. He was only gone for 10 minutes, T.K. kept telling himself. How could Matt have been here for an entire year when he was only gone for 10 minutes. Only 10 minutes. Just 10 minutes.

T.K. stopped crying. He suddenly realized what he had to do. His brother had been taken over by some evil force, and he had to save him. T.K. didn't know how he was going to do it, but he knew that if he found his digivice and Patamon that somehow he could defeat Devimon and save his brother. He lifted himself off of the ground and felt around in the darkness for the metal bars that separated him from freedom.

"Hey!" he yelled into the nothingness. His high pitched voice echoed loudly against the walls. "Hey Devimon! I know you're out there somewhere. Let me out of here you bully! Are you afraid of a little kid. Just let me and my brother go, we've never done anything to you, please!" T.K.'s random and loud blurts were met with a laugh from somewhere in the darkness.

"Who's there?" the young boy yelled.

"Close your eyes." the voice responded.

"Why?" T.K. asked angrily.

"Because I'm about to turn the lights on, and it'll burn your eyes if you are suddenly exposed to light after having been in darkness for so long." T.K. complied. As the lights turned on, T.K. could make out the light passing through his eyelids. He slowly opened his eyes, exposing himself to the faint light. It wasn't bright, but it was enough to make T.K. squint. As his eyes came into focus, he could make out a tall figure opening his prison door.

"Devimon wants to see you now." He walked into the cell and grabbed T.K.'s arm.

"Who are you?" T.K. growled.

"Don't worry, I'm just the jury. Devimon's the executioner."

***


	10. Dare to Hope, Dare to Live

**Chapter Ten: Dare to Hope, Dare to Live**

"Andromon, stand in front of me. This sandstorm is too rough for me to handle." Kazu instructed his newly digivolved partner. The large metal digimon placed himself in front of his partner, shielding him from the vicious desert storm that had appeared out of nowhere. "I hate this continent." Kazu muttered, thinking of the hell that he had found himself in. He knew he had to be here, though. Devimon had given him a very important job, and he intended to carry it out. Besides, he was already half way done, having successfully hidden the tags in an abandoned town far from the river. His only other mission was to find somewhere to conceal the crests, far from anywhere that the citizens of Server might stumble upon them, and then return to help Devimon finish his takeover of the island. It would be much easier now that his crest had helped Guardromon ascend to the tall, thin, silver metallic digimon known as Andromon. He didn't fully understand why Devimon hadn't given them the crests in the first place, as a few Ultimate digimon could probably easily take over that island, but he didn't dwell on it. Kazu trusted Devimon's judgment. Whatever reason Devimon had for concealing such a powerful tool, Kazu believed it was the right one.

A light in the small brown bag wrapped to his belt buckle drew Kazu's attention.

"What?" he mumbled as he stopped and grabbed the bag of crests from his hip. Andromon turned around to investigate as well.

"What is it, Kazu?" the android digimon said, void of emotion. Kazu opened the bag and pulled out the glowing crest. A symbol representing a star sending a ray of light downwards shone brightly on the small stone tablet.

"Damn, this is the second one today." Kazu sighed. He shoved the crest back into the bag. The light soon faded away. "Alright Andromon, new plan: take this bag up into the air and toss the crests in different directions."

"Won't that make the crest easier to find, Kazu?" the soulless digimon asked.

"Not if you take it up a few hundred thousand feet. They may be obvious on the ground but I can guarantee that no one will find all of them."

"Okay." Andromon opened his hand, allowing Kazu to hand him the bag. Kazu backed away as Andromon leaped from the ground and sped into the air like a rocket.

"Hurry up Andromon," Kazu said to himself, "Devimon needs us."

***

T.K. struggled to keep ahead of the jailer, who had pulled T.K.'s arms behind his back and was guiding him down a dark hallway. The boy holding him, a tall, slender kid wearing a tan suit, was walking too fast for T.K., so he had to run to keep the boy from shoving him farther. T.K. kept a sad expression on his face, trying to fool his captor so he wouldn't discover that T.K. was contemplating a way to escape.

There was one major problem, however. T.K. had no idea how to get out of the dark temple. He was clueless to where Ken was taking him and had no idea which hallway led to the exit T.K. had been brought in before. He had spent so much time in that dark cell, crying, that he was too disoriented to remember the layout of the building. But unknown to the boy a golden opportunity was about to strike.

As Ken turned out of the hallway he was in and crossed into a four way intersection, T.K. saw a bright light coming out of one of the hallways. Near the light he could see the silhouette of a boy walking towards what looked like a panel on the wall. T.K. realized this was the exit and faster than he realized came up with a plan.

"Hey, it's the loser!" T.K. yelled to the boy before he could close the heavy doors. Henry turned his head to see the shapes of Ken and T.K. in the distance.

"What did you call me Ken?" Henry yelled as he walked towards the two, forgetting to close the door.

"It wasn't me you moron it was the boy." Ken replied. Henry made his way over to the two tamers. Once he arrived, T.K. stuck his tongue out at him. Henry raised his arm and struck the boy across the cheek.

"You think you're funny?" Henry growled. T.K. cringed at the vicious attack, but remembering his brother, turned to face the boy again.

"Ken, why don't you let me take this little brat up to Devimon." Henry grabbed the boy's collar, almost choking him.

"Yeah, fine. I've gotta check on the other prisoners anyway." Ken released his grip and returned down the hallway that he came from.

"Alright, you little piece of crap, let's go." Henry pulled on the boy, dragging him towards Devimon's chamber. He then realized his absent mindedness towards the door. "Damn you, you made me forget about the door. Devimon would kill me if he found out I left that open, and that's not an exaggeration." Henry turned around and started walking down the pathway towards the door. T.K. waited until they were out of the sight of Ken to make his move.

As Ken walked away, he realized Henry's incompetence. "Henry, did you forget to close the damn door?" Ken growled as he walked back to the entranceway. As he made the corner he was shocked to see Henry lying on the ground, clutching his groin, while T.K. was running for the open doorway.

"No!" he yelled, running after him. He yelled "How could you be so stupid!" as he jumped over the other tamer, writhing in pain. Ken dashed after the boy, but the good tamer had too much of a head start. He ran towards the door, smashing his palm into the large red button on the side panel as he did so. This activated the alarm and triggered the heavy doors to begin to close. T.K. didn't care, however. He kept running, aiming for the crack in the doorway that was closing fast. T.K. leaped through the doorway, barely making it outside before the entrance slammed shut. Ken, running to fast, couldn't stop himself before he smashed his face into the door.

On the other side of the door, T.K. had lifted himself off the ground (after having fallen by leaping through the doorway) and was checking his surroundings, allowing his eyes to adjust to the bright light that now surrounded him. He first noticed that the sun had begun to go down, as everything had a red tint. As his eyes adjusted further, he began to see the Fugamon guards scrambling around the outskirts of the Citadel. T.K., having limited options, dove into a ditch he discovered to his left and started crawling forward.

As he started to make some distance between himself and the dark palace, a Fugamon leaped near the ditch he was hiding in and began to examine the area. T.K. dropped his head and held his breath, praying that Fugamon wouldn't see him. The foolish digimon, not thinking to look in the ditch, quickly leaped away, allowing T.K. to continue crawling away. As he got further and further away from the Citadel, he figured he was probably safe from the Fugamon. He pulled himself out of the ditch and observed where he was. The ditch was actually a depository, dumping water down the mountain. A path near the hiding place sloped downward as it spiraled around Infinity. T.K. hurried down the path, aimed to find Patamon and figure out a way to save his brother.

***

"Diamond Storm!"

"Pepper Breath!"

Agumon and Renamon fired their attacks at the steel bars, to no effect. The two had been trying to shatter the bars for hours, with no results.

"It's no use," Agumon complained, "We're too tired to take these out."

"Don't give up Agumon, we have to find Rika and Tai. Diamond Storm!" Rika sent a string of explosive jewels towards the jail door. They blew harmlessly upon impact.

"Damn," she leaned against her cell wall in exhaustion.

"Pepper Breath!" a flame suddenly struck Renamon's cage.

"What are you doing Agumon?" she questioned her friend, who was aiming another blast at her cage.

"If we focus both of our attacks on one cage, we might be able to weaken it-Pepper Breath!"

"Right. Diamond Storm!"

"Pepper Breath!" Agumon and Renamon alternated their attacks. A ten minute exchange proved fruitless as well.

"Ugh," Agumon dropped to the ground in exhaustion. "These bars are just too strong. Huh?" at Agumon's new angle, he could make out a silhouette in the cage across from his.

"Who is that?" Agumon tried to focus on the small shape, but it was too dark. "Pepper Breath!" He fired the blast at the wall near the cage. The flash of light revealed for a split second the small pinkish digimon collapsed in the cage.

"What is it Agumon?"

"It's Motimon!"

"Motimon? Why has he de-digivolved?"

"I don't know. Motimon! Hey Motimon! Wake up!" Agumon yelled to the digimon. The creature slowly began to stir awake.

"Agumon?" the digimon said weakly.

"Motimon, what happened to you?"

"We were attacked by Kuwagamon. He was too strong for me."

"So they grabbed Eric too?"

"Uh-huh."

"Motimon, do you think you can slip through these bars?" Renamon questioned.

"I can try." Motimon lifted himself up and walked (or his equivalent) towards the cell gate. He squeezed his body through the large bars of his cell, escaping to the hallway.

"Finally Devimon makes a mistake." Agumon cheered to his friend.

"Now Agumon, try and find the guard. He must be around here somewhere. Grab the keys and bring them back." Renamon instructed her friend.

"I got that part Renamon." Motimon growled. He then walked off, searching for the guard, whoever and wherever he was. Agumon and Renamon waited for their in-training friend for what seemed an hour, before the digimon crawled back, holding a set of keys in his arms.

"We were really lucky. The guard was asleep." Motimon flipped through the keys, searching for the correct one. "Um, I have no idea what key goes where." Motimon laughed. He then tossed the keys to Renamon.

"I'm amazed any digimon could sleep through the racket we've been making. What type of Digimon was it?" Agumon asked as Renamon fiddled with the keys.

"A Tentomon."

"I've got it!" Renamon exclaimed, finding the right key. She snapped the door open, then glided over to Agumon's cage. "Just a second friend, I'll have you out in a second." Renamon began rifling through the keys again.

"Hurry up!" Agumon was growing a little nervous.

"Don't worry Agumon, Tentomon and the like sleep like babies. We'll be fine."

"You mean they wake up every hour crying?"

"Hey!" Motimon protested Agumon's joke.

"There!" Renamon sprang Agumon's lock, releasing him from imprisonment.

"Alright! Now let's get out of here." Agumon led the charge away from the prison cells.

***

"We need to move now!" Gargomon grabbed the two children and dashed away from DarkTyrannomon, with Gatomon at his heels.

"RRAAHH!" DarkTyrannomon roared in anger, stomping after them in a rage.

"Hide here!" Gargomon leaped to a cave overlooking the sloped field and dropped Izzy and Kari inside, jumping away to draw DarkTyrannomon's attention from them.

"Be careful Gargomon!" Izzy yelled to his partner.

"You too Gatomon!" Kari cheered.

"We'll take care of him Kari!" Gatomon turned to the evil digimon hovering over them. It growled evilly before commencing it's attack.

"Fire Blast!" the Tyrannomon launched a deadly attack towards Gargomon.

"Good luck with that- Bunny Pummel!" Gargomon slammed his fist into the attack, throwing it back towards DarkTyrannomon.

"Iron Tail!" Tyrannomon swung his tail at the attack, knocking it away and slamming into Gargomon.

"Lightning Kick!" Gatomon struck Tyrannomon's head with her leg, making it flinch.

"Fire Blast!" DarkTyrannomon raised his head towards Gatomon and fired. Gatomon tried to block, but the attack slammed into her head on, throwing her back onto the ground.

"Hey, why don't you fight someone your own size," Gargomon yelled, lifting himself from the ground and jumping towards the vile creature, "Or at least someone bigger than Gatomon! Bunny Pummel!" Gargomon piled his fist into DarkTyrannomon's head. A small flinch from the dark digimon indicated that he barely felt the attack.

"Iron Tail!" Tyrannomon slung his tail around, piling it into Gargomon's stomach. As he flew backwards he raised his arms.

"Gargo Laser!" Gargomon fired at DarkTyrannomon with force. DarkTyrannomon tucked his head backwards to protect his eyes from the attack. Gargomon crashed into a rock wall before his attack could take full effect, though.

"That digimon's too strong for us." Kari stated.

"I know, but there's nothing we can do." Izzy moved to the back of the cave, setting Patamon down safely. "Gatomon and Gargomon are our only defense. If they can't win then there's nothing we can do."

"I just feel so helpless." Kari hung her head in sadness.

"I know, but there just isn't anything we can do Kari."

"Gargo Laser!"

"Lightning Paw!" Gargomon and Gatomon laid another round of attacks on DarkTyrannomon. He easily swated them away.

"Aahh!" DarkTyrannomon yelled in anger, chasing the two digimon down. As he swung another "Iron Tail" at Gargomon and Gatomon, Izzy noticed something on the digimon's back.

"What was that?" Izzy mumbled.

"I think it was the black gear!" Kari exclaimed excitedly. "Gatomon, there's a black gear on his back!"

"Thanks Kari!" Gatomon leaped above DarkTyrannomon, landing on the digimon's back. "See ya DarkTyrannomon." She latched herself onto the black gear, pulling it downwards. She struggled to pull the device out of Tyrannomon, but she only succeed in pulling the gear down, making it spin violently.

"I think I did it!" Gatomon yelled, just before DarkTyrannomon flew into an angry rage, knocking the feline off of his back. He became even more violent, smashing into the rock walls around him.

"What's happening Izzy?" Kari said frightened.

"I don't know Kari." Izzy murmured. "This is bad. Oh wait!" Izzy suddenly became excited.

"What is it Izzy?"

"Gargo Laser!"

"I think I know how to figure out how to defeat DarkTyrannomon." Izzy explained as he removed his laptop and activated it.

"What are you going to do?" Kari asked.

"Lightning Paw!"

"I'm going to record DarkTyrannomon and see if it'll record his digital signature."

"What?"

"Bunny Pummel!"

"Remember when I told everyone that matter in this world is combined with computer data?" Kari nodded.

"Well that means that any electrical device used in a world like this would be forced to record the electrical signals instead of the physical matter."

"How?"

"It's complicated, but just no that it means that if my theory is right, then I can map out DarkTyrannomon's electrical signal and figure out why that dark gear's spinning made him so powerful."

"So we can defeat him, right?"

"Right."

"Fire Blast!" Izzy activated a program in his computer.

"Okay, here it goes." Izzy twisted his computer around, letting the web cam built into the upper screen of his computer record the battle that was ensuing.

"Gargo Laser!"

"Lightning Kick!"

"Iron Tail!"

"That should be enough." Izzy twisted his computer back around, closing the web cam. "Now let's see what I got." he activated another program on his computer, examining the video he had just recorded. "I was right! Look at this Kari." Izzy showed the screen to the young girl next to him, revealing to her a video showing a mass of data scrambling around a screen.

"How do we tell the difference between everything?"

"See this dark cluster of data right here in the center? That's DarkTyrannomon. The two clusters of data swirling around it are Gargomon and Gatomon."

"So how does it help us?"

"There's a bunch of really dark clusters within DarkTyrannomon," Izzy explained, "I think those are the dark gears in him."

"Gears? So there's more than one?"

"Bunny Pummel!"

"Yeah, that's why he's so powerful. When Gatomon pulled that dark gear down, it began to churn, activating all of the other dark gears inside of him."

"That's bad."

"I know. But this also means we have a way to stop him."

"How?"

"If we can take out the key black gear in the front of his chest," Izzy pointed to the largest mass churning in front of DarkTyrannomon, "then all of the black gears will lose their support, and they'll slowly disintegrate. At least I think."

"How can you be sure?"

"I can't, but it's the best theory I have."

"Alright then, I trust you." Kari turned back to the battle. "Gatomon, start attacking his chest, there's another black gear in there!"

"Gargomon, you do the same!"

"Gotcha Izzy!"

"I'm on it, Kari! Lightning Paw!"

"Gargo Laser!" Gatomon and Gargomon aimed their attacks at DarkTyrranomon's chest, pummeling it with fire.

"Ayah!" DarkTyrannomon flew back in pain.

"I think we hit a soft spot!" Gargomon said excitedly. DarkTyrannomon quickly recovered though. He jerked himself back and head butted Gargomon, who flew back in pain. "Nevermind!"

"Lightning Paw!" Gatomon struck the DarkTyrannomon's chest.

"Bunny Pummel!" Gargomon struck back, smacking his cannons into DarkTyrannomon's chest.

"Aahh!" DarkTyrannmon curled himself up, writhing in pain.

"What's going on Gargomon?" the feline by his side questioned.

"I think we did it!" Gargomon yelled excitedly. This time he was right. The dark gear inside DarkTyrannomon's chest burst out of of the digimon, fading away. DarkTyrannomon screamed in pain again. Gargomon and Gatomon stumbled, taken aback by their success. It didn't end there though. The four tamers and digimon watched as another dark gear fell out of DarkTyrannomon's chest, disappearing as DarkTyrannomon screamed in pain again. Another gear then fell out of his chest, and then another. Five more gears fell out of the digimon's chest, and as each one exited the digimon DarkTyrannomon became lighter and redder. By the ninth gear, DarkTyrannomon had reduced to his normal size and color, reverting to Tyrannomon.

"We did it-sort of!" Kari cheered.

"Only one thing left Gargomon, take out the gear in his back!" Izzy instructed his partner.

"You got it Izzy!" Gargomon leaped from his place on the ground and soared over the Tyrannomon, who was too exhausted to fight.

"Gargo Laser!" Gargomon's beams drilled into the dark gear on Tyrannomon's back, destroying the evil device.

"Way to go Gargomon!" Gatomon cheered to her friend. Gagomon bounced off of the rock wall in front of him and leaped back to Gatomon. Gargomon fell in exhaustion, de-digivolving to Terriermon. Gatomon, tired as well, flipped her tail ring onto her claw.

"Terriermon, Gatomon, that was great!" Izzy and Kari yelled as they slid down the steep slope that led them down from the cave to the battlefield. Izzy carried the tiny Patamon with him as well.

"Good job Terriermon." Izzy congratulated his partner as the bunny-dog leaped onto his shoulder.

"How are you Gatomon?" Kari asked her partner.

"I'm tired and I think my tail's about to fall off, but other than that I think I'm okay."

"That's good to hear." A groan from behind them ended the reunion. The four turned to see Tyrannomon lifting himself up after the grueling battle.

"Oh, no. What do we do now?" Kari groaned.

"Tyrannomon should be our friend now that we've taken out all of his black gears." Terriermon ran off of Izzy's shoulder and walked towards the beaten digimon.

"Terriermon, wait." Izzy called to his friend. The digimon didn't listen though.

"Tyrannomon, how are you?" Terriermon comforted the champion as it recovered from the vicious battle.

"Better... I think. I can't thank you enough for freeing me from that curse."

"It was no problem. Besides, we had nothing better to do." Tyrannomon chuckled.

"Thank you again, and please accept my sincerest apology for what I did to you all." Tyrannomon pulled himself fully off of the ground.

"Ugh," a soft noise near Izzy drew the attention to him.

"What?" Izzy looked down at his arms, where everyone else's eyes were drawn. Patamon was struggling to wake up.

"Hey Patamon!" Izzy shook the small digimon, fully awakening him. The digimon opened his eyes and looked up for the first time in days, now recovered from the exhausting battle he had earlier with Garurumon.

"Izzy? Where's T.K.?" the small digimon was still disoriented.

"Don't you remember?" he replied.

"Oh, no. T.K.! He's been taken by the evil tamers." Izzy nodded. "We have to go save him!"

"We're working on it Patamon, but a lot's happened since you've been asleep."

"May I ask what they're talking about, young Terriermon?" Tyrannomon inquired of his new friend.

"Patamon's partner T.K. was taken away by the evil tamers, and now he's trapped in Devimon's Citadel."

"Tamers?" You all are-" Tyrannomon was taken aback when he realized that the two figures in the background talking to the wounded Patamon were humans. "I don't believe it. You've actually come!"

"Huh?"

"We heard rumors that a new generation of digidestined would arrive to stop the evil tamers, but we never thought it would actually happen. You've digivolved to Champion, correct?"

"That's the only way I defeated you."

"Then we have a chance after all."

"There are more of us," Izzy joined the conversation, "But they've been captured by the evil tamers. They're probably in the Citadel too."

"Then we must hurry," Tyrannomon said ominously, "Devimon is a heartless and malicious creature. There's no telling what he'll do to your friends. It might be too late even as we speak. We need to go to the Citadel and rescue your friends before Devimon decides their fate."

"You're gonna help us?" Kari asked.

"It's the least I could do after you saved me from the hell I was in."

"Well then, let's get going!" Gatomon cheered. She turned around, facing the path that led up the mountain. As she did, they heard a series of footsteps running down the mountain.

"Oh, no." the group said simultaneously. Kari and Izzy ran behind Gatomon, Terriermon, and Tyrannomon as they waited to discover who was coming down the mountain. Thinking it was an evil digidestined, the group was shocked when a young boy wearing green dashed onto the plane. He jerked back when he saw the line of digimon, but let out a sigh of relief when he saw Izzy and Kari behind them.

"Izzy, hey!" he yelled to the boy. Izzy was shocked.

"T.K.? Ha ha, T.K.!" Izzy ran in front of the three digimon, coming to greet the boy. Patamon raced ahead of him, however.

"T.K.!" the little digimon yelled as he flew into the boy's arms.

"Angemon!" T.K. said happily, meeting the digimon again.

"Actually my names Patamon."

"Patamon, Angemon, whatever. I'm just happy to see you."

"T.K., how did you escape?" Izzy questioned with excitement.

"They were taking me to that evil creature Devimon when I saw that someone had left a door open, so I went for it."

"I can't believe it, way to go buddy." T.K. hugged the boy, relieved to see that he had escaped the evil of the Citadel intact. Kari then made her way to the reunion.

"Did everyone else make it out okay, T.K.?"

"What do you mean?"

"My brother, Rika, and Eric are all trapped in the Citadel too."

"What?" T.K. was stunned.

"I'm glad you've found another one of your friends, but if we want to save the rest of them, we need to go now. Who knows what Devimon is planning to do to them." Tyrannomon said as he started walking towards the path.

"Tyrannomon's right, we need to go now. Kari, T.K., come on!"

"Who is that, Izzy?" T.K. asked the boy as the three humans and four digimon made their way up the mountain.

"I'll explain later, but we have to go." Tyrannomon lowered himself so that the other digimon and humans could climb upon him. Tyrannomon then made his way up the mountain, towards the Citadel, towards their captured friends, and most importantly, towards Devimon. As they made their way up the mountain with the help of Tyrannomon, T.K. thought to himself. Don't worry Matt, I'm coming.


	11. A Nightmare to Remember

I've been spelling Chrisalimon wrong too. It's Chrysalimon. Sorry. Also I know this sounds weird but if anyone cares to review this could you tell me what a C2 is? I have a very basic understanding of internet terms and only recently figured out what an OC is. Now check out my longest chapter yet. I'm sure you'll have absolutely no idea what's going to happen (that's sarcasm in case I didn't make myself clear).

**Chapter Eleven: A Nightmare to Remember**

Four Days Ago

Koichi eyed the wolf digimon as it entered the cave behind the waterfall, forcing a smile out of him.

"Is it him Koichi?" Keramon asked as he crawled up to his partner, who was partially concealed in a hiding tree.

"Yes it is." Koichi smiled again. "Let's go." He left the safety of the hiding tree, heading for the path around the lake that led to the secret cave. Keramon followed.

"Should I digivolve now?" Keramon whispered, worried that the blue and brown digimon would get the best of him in his rookie state.

"Not yet, I want to make sure we've found the objective before any fighting happens." Koichi reached the path that wound around the lake against a tall cliff. He placed himself against the cliff wall and walked slowly, weary of the stream of water that was crashing down a few yards in front of him.

"Be careful," Keramon warned his tamer, "the last thing we need is for you to get a broken neck."

"No, the last thing we need is to fail the mission. Devimon's wrath would be a lot worse than anything some water could do to me."

"Good point." Koichi and Keramon reached the space between the waterfall and cliff wall, a narrow passage that barely had enough room for Koichi to pass through.

"How the hell did that guy fit through here?" Koichi whispered rhetorically. Keramon shrugged. They passed by the raging waters cautiously and made it to where a cave opened up behind the falls. Koichi peered around the corner, checking to make sure his enemy wasn't watching. The coast was clear, so Koichi slipped into the wide natural hallway and signaled for Keramon to enter as well. The virus digimon waddled over to his partner, gazing into the dark cavern.

"This thing probably doesn't go too deep," Koichi whispered, "We should probably-"

"Aussterben!" A wave of energy fired towards Koichi and his partner from the darkness.

"Watch out!" Keramon leaped in front of Koichi, shining brightly.

"Keramon digivolve to... Chrysalimon!" The larger insect digimon now deflected the blast, causing it to smash into the ceiling above. "Look's like we've been discovered." Chrysalimon growled.

"Looks like." Koichi agreed as he watched the tall and slender digimon walk into the light. He could now make out the digimon's shining white and brown armor, his medium sized pure white wings raised into the air, the digimon's sword clutched in his armor clad hand, and the wolf-like helmet with golden hair.

"It's nice to see you again Leopardmon." Koichi laughed.

"The feeling is not mutual." the digimon replied. Chrysalimon chuckled at the digimon's remark.

"I believe you have something that belongs to us." the spider-like digimon growled as he positioned himself in front of the exalted digimon.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Leopardmon replied.

"Well then, I guess I'll just have to jog your memory- Data Crusher!" Kurisamon fired a ball of yellow energy from his mouth.

"Ernste Wehr!" Leopardmon deflected the attack with an aura of dark energy radiating from his rapier.

"Ayah!" Chrysalimon launched himself at the digimon, wrapping his tentacles around the majestic digimon. He constricted himself, bringing Leopardmon to his knees. "Go find the crests, Koichi!" he called to his partner. Koichi complied, running past the two wrestling digimon. Meanwhile, Leopardmon tried to free his arm to reach his rapier, which he had dropped once Chrysalimon pounced on him.

"You won't defeat me." Leopardmon said once he regained his breath. "I am stronger and smarter than you."

"You're a fool if you truly believe that!" Chrysalimon constricted even tighter, "Not even you can escape the powers of the dark beacon." Koichi then ran back to the battle from the back of the cave, holding a small brown box.

"I've got them!" He yelled, making his way to the exit of the cave.

"No," Leopardmon tried to yell, but he was losing consciousness. His plight was made worse when Chrysalimon released his grip on the digimon for a slight second to throw his face into a wall, knocking the digimon out. Chrysalimon then crawled after his partner. The two made their way out of the forest towards Infinity Mountain, where Kuwagamon was waiting for them. Chrysalimon de-digivolved to Keramon to fit on top of the digimon along with Henry and Koichi, and together the four made the trip to the Citadel. Koichi and Keramon then entered the dark palace and followed the pathway to Devimon's chamber. The demon was waiting for them when they opened the door from the small staircase.

"Did you acquire it?" The demon lord asked from his throne.

"Yes sir." Koichi made his way over to the tall digimon, extending the wooden box outwards towards his master. Devimon grabbed the box and opened it, smiling.

"Perfect," he smiled, "Now once I ascend I can take all of you with me-" Devimon now had a surprised look on his face.

"What is it my lord?" Koichi questioned.

"There are fourteen of them." Devimon said, shocked. "Leopardmon called more digidestined."

***

Present Day

"Are you sure that you're okay to go back, T.K.?" Izzy yelled to the boy behind him as Tyrannomon dashed up to the Citadel.

"Yeah, as long as I have Patamon with me I"ll be fine!" T.K. replied.

"Do we have a plan for getting in there?" Kari asked behind T.K.

"It doesn't matter. Every second we're not at the Citadel is another chance for Devimon to finish the others off."

"But how are we going to get past all of the guards, and the evil digidestined, and Devimon?"

"I've got a plan!" Tyrannomon commented as he ran up the mountain path. "Patamon, you digivolve to Angemon, right?"

"Yeah!" the digimon yelled back.

"Good, that means you have the ability to purify."

"What does that mean?" T.K. asked

"Purifying is when a digimon can wipe all evil aspects out of another life form. Angemons have the ability to do that."

"So Patamon can delete dark needles and black gears?" Izzy asked.

"Yes."

"That means we can purify all of Devimon's guards!" Kari commented.

"And Matt!" said T.K. excitedly."

"Not just Matt, all of the evil digidestined. Then together we can defeat Devimon." Izzy said victoriously. "Alright T.K. get ready. Do you have your digivice?"

"My what?" T.K. was confused at first, but then recalled what Izzy was speaking of. "No, they took it when they brought me to the Citadel! Is that going to be a problem?"

"We need the digivices to digivolve." Patamon replied.

"Don't worry," Tyrannomon stated as he drew closer to the palace, "I've got an idea."

***

Tai, Rika, and Eric walked slowly as the Woodmon and Garurumon behind them herded the three humans up the stairs.

"So are they taking us to Devimon?" Tai whispered.

"Yeah." Eric replied.

"So what does he look like?" Rika murmured.

"Have you ever seen one of those medieval paintings of the devil?" Tai and Rika both nodded. "He looks like that except scary as hell."

"Great," Rika sighed as they reached the top of the stairs. They stopped to let the tamer Yolei come to the door and open it for them. Woodmon and Garurumon then shoved them into the chamber ahead. As they entered, they could see a figure shrouded in shadows talking to Henry and Ken.

"You left the door open?" the figure said emotionlessly.

"Yes sir." Henry said humbly.

"And a young boy outran you?" Devimon asked, addressing Ken.

"Yes sir." Devimon gripped his head in anger.

"I don't know what to do with you, Henry. Your pride and ego is doing more damage to this cause than these other tamers." As he was talking, Koichi, Zoe, and Joe entered the room, along with their partners Keramon, Betamon, and Gomamon. They walked past Tai, Rika, and Eric and joined Yolei and Matt off to the side. As Joe passed by them, Tai eyed him with sorrow.

"So that's Devimon." Tai stated as he stared at the demon standing over two of his subjects. Eric nodded. Tai stared into the digimon's eyes, as he yelled, showing not fear but anger. As Tai glared at the digimon, he noticed a faint light glowing in the digimon's stomach. Devimon noticed it too. He lifted his head from Ken and Henry and stared at the group of tamers standing near the door. His eyes immediately fell on Tai.

"Well I guess I know who's been giving me stomach problems." Devimon laughed as he walked over to the three tamers. Rika and Eric breathed deeply as the digimon came closer, but Tai kept his angry gaze. "You think you're so brave, don't you?" Devimon growled as he arrived at the group. He leaned down so that he could be at eye level with Tai. "What's your name?" he laughed.

"Taichi Kamiya." Tai's fury was skyrocketing just by being in the vicinity of the evil warlord.

"Well Taichi Kamiya, I guess I'll have to kill you first." Devimon stood up and walked away. "I wouldn't want you to get any ideas about fighting back. Who knows how much damage you could do to my digestive system."

"What the hell is he talking about?" Eric whispered to Rika.

"I don't know." She replied. They both turned to Tai, but didn't bother to ask him considering the boy's angry stare locked onto Devimon.

"Tai, you okay?" Rika asked.

"I can't stand him." Tai said roughly. "He's caused so much pain and suffering on this island, I just can't look at him without getting so angry."

"Well you won't have to worry about that for long," Devimon laughed from across the room. He had overheard their conversation. "Okay, you five, come over here." Devimon called the digidestined watching the spectacle over to the location of Henry and Ken. "We have some things to go over. First of all: Ken, your incompetence has been too obvious these past few days, you're no longer the leader."

"What!" Ken shot up from his knelt position in anger. Yolei risked a small smile behind him. "Sir, you can't demote me just because of a few mistakes-"

"I can and I will, end of discussion." Devimon cut him off, staring at him with hatred. Ken quickly realized his mistake and knelt back down. "Yolei, you shall be in charge from now on." This time outbursts came from both Ken and Koichi.

"Her?" Ken said angrily, "She doesn't know what the hell she's doing!"

"Master please, I am so much more qualified to lead us. I'm the strongest!" Koichi yelled in protest.

"Both of you shut up right now!" Devimon's pleased attitude from earlier had completely disappeared. "Yolei is perfectly qualified to lead you losers. The only other one of you I considered for this position was Joe. Almost all of you have made huge mistakes because of your damn ego. Only Yolei has remained level headed, even though she made a few mistakes, she learned from them. She also didn't make any mistakes on her own. Her only faults were out of her control." Devimon demoralized the other digidestined.

"Sir, thank you very much. I promise I will reclaim the glory that those children tried to take from us," Yolei nodded her head in the direction of Tai and the others.

"I know you will, Yolei. Alright, the second matter of business: We're done with this island. There's an Airdramon set up outside who is ready to take you to Server. Kazu should be waiting for you there, where he will give you your tags and crests and let you ascend to Ultimate."

"Master, what about File Island, there's still too much opposition here for us to just forget about it." Matt spoke up to his leader.

"Not for long. After I kill these tamers and destroy their partners, I will absorb the digimon's digi-cores and I'll ascend to Myotismon. After that I'll take care of the rest of the pathetic creatures on this island and join you on Server." The seven tamers nodded. "Now hurry and go, I want the pleasure of killing these three all to myself."

"Yes my lord." Yolei started walking towards the doorway. "Come on Woodmon, let's go." Her digimon followed her, as well as the other digidestined and their partners. As they passed by, Tai asked them a question.

"Which one of you is Matt?" The boy in a green shirt and blond spiky hair turned to him.

"What's it to you?" he replied.

"You should be ashamed of yourself. The way you treated your brother makes me sick." Matt scoffed at him, then turned back towards the stairwell.

"I don't have a brother."

***

Tyrannomon turned his head around the corner, observing the outskirts of the citadel. An Airdramon and five Fugamon guarded the entrance to the palace.

"So how does it look Tyrannomon?" Gargomon asked from behind him.

"There's six digimon guarding the main entrance. Five Fugamon and and Airdramon, but I don't think the Airdramon is going to be their for long. Usually they're just delivery men for Devimon."

"Can you take them out easily?" Kari questioned.

"Yeah. That Airdramon might be a little tough, but I'm sure I can distract him along with the other guards."

"And you're sure that Devimon would have taken Tai and the others to his chamber on the top of the palace?" Gatomon questioned.

"Yes, there's no other place Devimon prefers to do executions more than in his quarters." Kari shuddered at Tyrannomon's reply.

"Is everyone clear on the plan?" Izzy turned to the group. The all nodded. "Then let's get going."

"Wait, who's that?" Kari pointed to a group of some sort walking out of the Citadel.

"It's the evil digidestined." Gatomon replied.

"What are they doing?" Gargomon asked. They watched as the group boarded a wooden structure on the back of Airdramon.

"Holy crap they're leaving." Izzy said in amazement.

***

Devimon glided over to the three digidestined now sitting in the middle of the chamber. He eyed them evilly. Tai stared back at him with the same angry glare. Eric and Rika, on the other hand, were staring at a small pot next to Devimon's throne, where they could make out the silhouettes of four digivices. Devimon caught the envious eyes of the two tamers behind Tai.

"Ha, how pathetic. You actually think you have a chance to escape." Devimon scoffed at Eric and Rika, who were now looking at Devimon with anger and fear. Only Tai seemed fully engrossed in hatred of the digimon. "Now, let's get on with it." Devimon bent down to Tai, who was still staring at Devimon. As Devimon came closer, the crest within him grew brighter and brighter. Devimon winced at the pain.

"Argh," Devimon groaned, backing away from the boy. "It looks like you may give me a little trouble after all. I guess I'll have to break your spirit before I kill you." He reached over Tai and grabbed Rika in his hand.

"Rika!" Tai and Eric screamed in unision.

"Let me-" Rika tried to yell at the digimon as he stood up, holding the girl before him, but his grip tightened.

"Let her go now!" Tai yelled.

"And what are you going to do about it?" Devimon laughed, even though the crest within him was burning his insides. "goodbye little girl." Devimon tightened his grip.

"Diamond Storm!" the attack blindsided Devimon. It smashed into his face, forcing him to let go of the girl. She fell a short distance before Tai and Eric caught her.

"You okay?" Tai asked as the two boys set her down.

"I'm fine, let go." Rika jumped away. She turned around to see Renamon, Agumon, and Motimon running towards them.

"Renamon!" she said excitedly.

"Agumon!"

"Motimon!" Eric yelled, running towards the digimon. He snatched the digimon in his arms and squeezed. "I'm so sorry, I put you in so much danger."

"It's okay Eric," the small digimon replied. "It's not your fault. You just got a little carried away." The reunion was cut short as Devimon groaned in anger.

"Damn you." Devimon wiped the burn from his eyes. "Just for that, I think I'll-"

"Blaze Blast!" A voice from outside the Citadel sounded as a flaming sphere crashed into the wall of Devimon's chamber and blew it to pieces. As the smoke cleared, the seven in the chamber could make out three shapes: Tyrannomon, Gargomon, and Gatomon stared into the chamber.

"Are we late for the party?" Gargomon said as he leaped into the room from Tyrannomon's head. Gatomon leaped after him.

"Gargomon!" Eric said excitedly.

"And Gatomon!" exclaimed Tai.

"You guys got this?" Tyrannomon roared.

"We're good to go buddy." Gargomon replied as Tyrannomon turned around to deal with the Fugamon. "It looks like you sent your friends away a little too early." he laughed. Devimon bellowed as well.

"Ha! You think you two will actually stand a chance against me?" He turned away from the tamers and digimon ahead of him and faced Gargomon and Gatomon, making his second mistake of the day. Tai, Rika, and Eric immediately ran past him, leaping towards their digivices. "No!" He yelled turning to them, but he was too late. Gargomon unleashed an attack on him, forcing him to defend himself, while the three humans reached the small bowl next to Devimon's throne.

"You ready for this Motimon?" Eric called to his in-training partner, who nodded. "Right then."

"Motimon digivolve to... Tentomon."

"Let's do this Agumon!" Tai activated his digivice, followed by Rika and Eric.

"Agumon digivolve to... Greymon!"

"Renamon digivolve to... Kyubimon!"

"Tentomon digivolve to... Kabuterimon!" The three champion digimon turned to face Devimon, who had leaped away from the line of Gargomon's attack. The five digimon now closed in on him.

"Take him out Greymon!" Tai cheered.

"Ayah!" Devimon glared at the digimon around him. "Evil Wing!" Devimon threw his shredded wings outwards, sending a wave of dark energy at the digimon, knocking them away.

"Nova Blast!" Greymon rebelled.

"Dragon Wheel!" Kyubimon rolled into a flaming wheel and sped towards Devimon.

"Electro-Shocker!"

"Gargo Laser!"

"Lightning Paw!" Devimon clasped his wings around him, deflecting the attacks that flew towards him.

"Who's digivice is this?" Eric bent down and pulled the fourth digivice out of the bowl.

"It must be T.K.'s." Rika stated.

"Where is he though?"

"Probably somewhere else in the Citadel, waiting for Devimon to come and grab him."

"Fox Tail Inferno!"

"Hey guys!" The three turned around and witnessed Izzy, Kari, and T.K. running towards them.

"Kari!" Tai screamed in happiness, running towards his sister.

"T.K.!" Rika and Eric yelled happily. "You escaped?"

"Yeah!" he replied as the two groups met.

"I think this is yours T.K." Eric handed the boy the digivice.

"Thanks. You ready Patamon?" T.K. turned to the creature hovering above him. Patamon nodded. Devimon turned to see the scene and screamed in horror.

"No, not him!"

"Patamon digivolve to... Angemon!" Patamon was covered in a burst of light as T.K.'s digivice activated, revealing the Angelic digimon seconds later.

"Sh..." Devimon began to swear, but Angemon intervened.

"Hand of Fate!" He fired the beam of energy at his demonic counterpart. Devimon blocke the attack with his wings.

"You're outnumbered Devimon." Greymon laughed as the six digimon came together.

"That's where your wrong." Devimon chuckled.

"We shall see. Nova Blast!"

"Fox Tail Inferno!"

"Lightning Kick!"

"Electro-Shocker!"

"Bunny Pummel!"

"Hand of Fate!" The six attacks swirled around Devimon, speeding towards him in an almost impossible attack to dodge. Before they could hit the digimon, however, he leaped into the air, hovering over his enemies.

"Ha ha ha!" Devimon taunted them. "You shall never defeat me, not when I have the energy of all of my servants by my side!" Devimon raised his arms into the air.

***

"Blaze Blast!" Tyrannomon fired another attack at yet another Fugamon, the seventh one. The guards were quickly swarming around him, overwhelming the dinosaur. "This might be a little harder than I thought." He said to himself. Suddenly all of the Fugamon began to howl in pain.

"What the?" Tyrannomon watched confused as each of the Fugamon collapsed onto the ground. Tyrannomon could also hear screams of pain from inside the Citadel, indicating that Devimon's other servants were also having the same problem. "What is happening hear?" Tyrannomon backed away in fear. "I really picked a good time to switch sides."

Black Gears then flew out of the Fugamon's, flying towards the Citadel. Tyrannomon turned around to see other black gears fly out of the Citadel, swarming around it. A mass of thousands of dark devices hovered over the dark palace, which also began to disintegrate, sending its particles to swarm around along with the black gears. "Ayah!" Tyrannomon then backed away from the Citadel as it faded away into a mass of rocks and rubble. On top of the mound, he could see Devimon hovering over the digidestined as the black gears and dark particles flew into the digimon. "No." Tyrannomon ran up the mound to join the others.

"What's happening?" He questioned the other champion digimon.

"We're not sure." Angemon replied.

"But we know it's gonna be bad!" Gargomon added.

"We can't wait for him to get stronger, we need to attack now!" Tyrannomon aimed at the growing Devimon.

"But what about the 45th-" Kabuterimon started, but Angemon cut him off.

"He's right, there's no time to lose. Hand of Fate!"

"Blaze Blast!"

"Gargo Laser!"

"Fox Tail Inferno!"

"Electro-Shocker!"

"Nova Blast!" The six digimon blasted away at the swirling mass of darkness. The only one who didn't attack was Gatomon, who couldn't risk striking the cloud with her physical attacks. Their attacks were fruitless, however. Each blast bounced harmlessly away from Devimon, knocking into the air. The shroud of darkness then began to condense, forming the shape of Devimon on a massive scale. Devimon, now a hundred feet tall, stared down at the champion digimon below him.

"Ha ha. I might not be fully ascended now, but I'm more than strong enough to defeat you." Devimon raised his hand. "Hell's Contract!" He fired a dark wave of energy at the group. They leaped away, but the evil attack smashed into Gatomon's back, knocking her unconcious.

"Gatomon, no!" Kari tried to save her partner, who had now de-digivolved to Salamon, but Tai stopped her.

"Kari, you can't go over there. It's too dangerous."

"But Tai-"

"I'll get her Kari!" Gargomon yelled as he raced towards the wounded rookie. "Cover me!" Gargomon yelled to no one in particular. Angemon received his call and began distracting the mega-sized digimon.

"Hand of Fate!" he yelled, sending the wave of energy at the demon. Devimon knocked the attack away, unharmed by the would-be fatal attack.

"You can't possibly think you're strong enough to defeat me. How many times have you digivolved, two?" Devimon smashed his hand at the angel.

"Ayah!" Angemon screamed as he fell towards the ground. "I don't need strength to defeat you, I just need the power of hope and light. Hand of Fate!" Angemon fired another blast of light, just as Gargomon arrived at the tamers. He handed Salamon to Kari.

"You all should get back to the foot of this hill, it's safer down there." He told them right before he dashed back towards the battle.

"Fox Tail Inferno!"

"Electro-Shocker!"

"They're losing," Izzy said sadly as the six humans made their way to the foot of the hill where the battle was taking place.

"This is why we should have gotten the city and there armies to help us." Rika commented. "Why didn't you bring more digimon with you to help us?"

"Nanimon accused us of attacking Leomon, and tried to imprison us." Kari replied. "We barely escaped as it is!"

"Maybe someone can go down there and ask for their help." Tai suggested.

"Do you even think they'd be willing to help us?" Rika added.

"Angemon could probably do it- he's a frickin' angel, I doubt they could say that he's evil." Eric suggested.

"And he's fast too, he could probably reach them within a few minutes." Izzy suggested. "What about it T.K., can you get us some assistance?" T.K. nodded.

"Hey Angemon-" he began to scream to his partner, but a dark energy suddenly consumed the angelic digimon, knocking him to the ground. "Angemon, no!" T.K. called as he ran towards his partner.

"T.K. wait!" Rika called to the boy, but he was too determined to save his friend.

"Ha Ha Ha Ha!" Devimon bellowed. His laugh was like a scream at his current size. "You see, even the great Angemon cannot defeat me. Your efforts are futile, so go ahead and hand over your digicores. Or better yet, why don't I just take them violently!" Devimon laughed again, throwing his hand down at Kyubimon, who was weakly assaulting the demon's legs.

"Touch of Evil!" the digimon grasped the fox digimon and squeezed her tightly, dismantling her data and reverting her to Renamon.

"Renamon!" Rika screamed as the rookie slipped out of Devimon's hand and fell onto the ground.

"Just one thing left to do!" Devimon raised his foot above the fox.

"Renamon!" As Devimon's foot came crashing down, Greymon suddenly intervened, throwing his spiky head under the demon's foot.

"Ayah!" Devimon growled in pain, lifting his throbbing appendage away from the two.

"Renamon, get out of here now!" Greymon roared to the girl behind him. Renamon nodded and dashed away towards Rika. "Nova Blast!" Greymon launched a fireball towards Devimon's face. Devimon turned his head, allowing the flaming attack to hit his cheek harmlessly. When the fires disappeared, however, another attack was heading his way.

"Bunny Pummel!" Gargomon yelled as he flew towards the creature's eyes. Devimon laughed and snatched the digimon's arm with his teeth, shaking him violently. He dropped the digimon, watching him regress to Terriermon as he plummeted to the ground.

"Terriermon!" Izzy called in worry.

"Kabuterimon, get him!" Eric yelled to the insect. Kabuterimon quickly swooped in front of Devimon, catching the bunny-dog in one of his arms. He then put distance between himself and Devimon, exposing the digimon's eyes to the Renamon running towards her human partner.

"Oh, no you don't." Devimon knelt down, swiping Greymon away with little effort. The dinosaur stumbled down the hill's slope, landing unconscious at the bottom. "Touch of Evil!" Devimon yelled, thrusting his arm into the ground. The arm reemerged under Renamon, knocking her into the air.

"Rika!" The digimon yelled in pain. Devimon's hand extended farther towards her, but Kabuterimon swept her up in the knick of time, carrying her to safety.

"Don't worry, you're fine." Kabuterimon comforted the two digimon in his arms as he flew away from Devimon.

"Kabuterimon, fly down to the city and try to convince them to help us. It's our only chance!" Eric called to his partner.

"You really think I'm that stupid don't you!" Devimon raised his arm. "Hell's Contract!" the dark blast easily knocked the bug out of the sky, sending him in his rookie form as well as Terriermon and Renamon with him.

"No!" Rika, Eric, and Izzy yelled in unison as they ran to comfort their digimon.

"Tyrannomon's the only one left Tai." Kari said as she pulled closer to her brother, holding the battered Salamon tight in her arms.

"Blaze Blast!" Tyrannomon launched another attack at Devimon.

"Ah, the very last one," Devimon smiled as he looked down on Tyrannomon. The digimon stumbled back before Devimon smashed his foot into the digimon, knocking him down the mountain.

"Kari, get out of here." Tai told his sister as he stared at the demon, who was too busy laughing to finish what he started.

"Tai-" she began.

"I don't want to here it Kari. I want you to get down the mountain and back to the Citadel, the others should follow you."

"But what are you going to do?"  
"I'm going to stay here and distract Devimon."

"What? No, you can't!"

"I have to Kari. The only way this island will stand a chance against Devimon is if you and the others are there to help the Citadel fight against him. I'll make sure he doesn't follow you, so go now."

"Tai, I can't-"

"Just Go!" Tai turned around and pushed the girl away. She cried, slowly dragging herself down the mountain. Devimon then turned to Tai, who was staring up at him with hatred.

"Oh, yes you." Devimon clutched his stomach. "And to think that I actually feared that you might be a threat." Devimon laughed once again.

"You think I'm afraid of you?" Tai growled. "I don't care how powerful you think you are. My friends are going to beat you no matter how tall you get, or whether you ascend or not, because you are a heartless bastard-"

"Shut up!" Devimon raised his arm, glaring at Tai. Tai glared right back. Devimon swung his arm down, letting it speed towards Tai.

"Ayah!" Devimon suddenly flew back, clutching his stomach in pain. He doubled over, his massive body crashing into the back of the hill, away from the other digidestined. The crest within his stomach shone brightly, burning through Devimon's skin and creating a massive hole in the digimon.

"What's happening to him?" T.K. yelled from the base of the mountain while he comforted Patamon.

"I don't know," Tai whispered. As Devimon screamed louder and louder, the light within his stomach began to lift itself away from the demon, hovering in mid-air as it floated towards the tamers. Tai and Devimon stared in amazement as the light condensed, revealing the tag and crest, and flew straight into Tai's hands. "Huh?"

"Tai, I can feel your courage!" Greymon roared as he made his way back up the hill.

"No," Devimon said shocked. Tai's digivice then burst with power, the crest in his hands doing the same thing.

"Greymon digivolve to..." Greymon was lifted into the air as a bright white light consumed him. He began growing larger, and a field of electricity consumed him as he began to transform.

"Ah!" Kari gasped.

"What's happening to him?" Rika said in amazement.

"He must be digivolving, again!" Izzy replied.

"Awesome." T.K. commented.

"Damn." Eric watched the digimon as it grew larger and larger, with wings appearing on its back. Devimon, still crippled from the power of the crest, could not bring himself to stop the transformation. Suddenly the bright light flashed away, and Greymon, now twice as large with metal covering his skull, chest, and left arm and decayed wings supporting him in the air, hovered over Devimon with a fury in his eyes.

"MetalGreymon!"


	12. Judge, Jury, and Executioner

For anyone who might be wondering why Devimon would be stupid enough to keep the crest with him that belongs to the one digidestined who was able to stand against him, It is an important part of the story but I can't tell you right now (spoiler).

**Chapter Twelve: Judge, Jury, and Executioner**

"MetalGreymon?" Tai whispered, gaping at the dramon hovering above him. Across the hill, Devimon was also staring at the ascended digimon, but unlike Tai, fear filled his eyes, not awe.

"Don't worry Tai, I'll take care of everything now." The rough voiced digimon nodded to his tamer. Tai was too stunned to reply. "So, Devimon, are you ready to listen to us now?" MetalGreymon growled as he landed in front of the giant demon.

"Argh," Devimon mumbled as he lifted himself off of the ground. Tai was stunned to see the wound in Devimon's stomach swirl away into darkness, healing itself.

"Do not think that just because you have reached the ultimate level that you stand a chance against me, MetalGreymon. I have the strength of a thousand digimon, and you are but one!" Devimon stood tall against the digimon, quivering slightly.

"Your arrogance will be your doom, Devimon. I may only be one digimon, but even a lowlife like you must know the overwhelming advantage an Ultimate has over a champion."

"We shall see!" Devimon said sarcastically, quoting Greymon's earlier remark at Devimon.

"If you recall," MetalGreymon rose into the air, aiming his claw at Devimon, "I began to lose after I said that. Mega Claw!" Greymon's metal arm fired towards Devimon.

"Not a chance. Hell's Contract!" Devimon sent a shroud of darkness towards the claw. The attack cut through his mist easily, slamming into Devimon's chest. "Ayah!" Devimon flew backwards. He then jumped into the air, matching MetalGreymon's elevation.

"I guess I'll have to do this the hard way!" Devimon thrust his arm towards MetalGreymon. "Touch of Evil!"

"Giga Blaster!" MetalGreymon rebelled with a pair of missiles firing out of the panel on his chest. They exploded on impact with Devimon's arm.

"Ayah!" Devimon pulled his arm back in immense pain, then looked at his arm in horror as he realized that his hand and most of his arm had been deleted. "No." Devimon pulled away, soaring higher than MetalGreymon. "You're going to pay for that you bastard!"

"I'm done toying around with you Devimon. Giga Blaster!" MetalGreymon sent another pair of missiles at Devimon.

"No. Dungeon's Curse!" Devimon raised his arm, forming unknown symbols in the air. The missiles flew into the symbols, disappearing.

"Huh?" MetalGreymon twisted his head in confusion.

"Didn't expect that, did you?" Devimon laughed. His hand was beginning to regenerate. "Hell's Contract!"

"Mega Claw!" MetalGreymon swatted the attack away.

"You're never going to defeat me MetalGreymon. Even though you may be more powerful than me, I hold the powers of Darkness, and that will always prevail. Ha Ha Ha!" MetalGreymon chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"This. Mega Claw!" MetalGreymon fired his weapon towards Devimon.

"You never learn do you? Dungeon's Curse!" Devimon waved more symbols into the air. MetalGreymon's claw momentarily phased from existence. The symbols soon faded away, returning MetalGreymon's claw to his arm.

"You see, you will never-" Devimon's eyes flew wide open. Two missiles were speeding towards him. "No!" He raised his arm to create another mystic symbol, but he didn't have time. The first missile blasted his hand into data, while the second one crashed into his chest.

"Ayah!" Data began to flee from the digimon's chest as he fell to the ground.

"You shouldn't have tested me Devimon. Mega Claw!" MetalGreymon fired his attack one last time.

"I won't let you defeat me!" Devimon folded his wings around the stubs of his arms and the crater in his chest, preparing for the attack.

"It won't work. AAHH!" MetalGreymon thrust his arm forward, sending the claw soaring into Devimon. It destroyed his wings, leaving them a mess of data, and landed right under Devimon's neck.

"G-G-Gah," Devimon choked, unable to add a comeback.

"You brought this on yourself." MetalGreymon glared at the demon. "You of all digimon should know that everything that goes up, must come DOWN!" MetalGreymon ripped his claw chain out of Devimon's throat, forcing the digimon to gag. MetalGreymon then whipped his chain at the digimon, sending his claws ripping across him. The slash severed Devimon in half, causing his top half to fall towards the earth once again.

"No, how could I lose. I was so close to- to reaching perfection." Devimon's legs faded into data while his upper body fell weakly to the ground. MetalGreymon flew towards the dying digimon, landing in front of him.

"I want you to know, MetalGreymon," Devimon stuttered, "That I will be back, and when that time arrives, I will show no mercy on you." Devimon dropped his head in exhaustion.

"I know," MetalGreymon replied, "And I want _you_ to know that when that time arrives, I will be ready for you. Mega Claw!" Greymon thrust his arm into Devimon's head, shattering the digimon into countless bits of data, which dissipated into the air. MetalGreymon then turned towards his partner.

"MetalGreymon," Tai said in awe, "You're amazing." He smiled. MetalGreymon made a creepy yet sensitive smile as well.

"Thanks Tai. I wouldn't have been able to digivolve if it weren't for you and your crest of courage." MetalGreymon smiled as a bright light consumed him, reducing his size drastically. Tai ran to his partner as he shrunk back to Koromon.

"Hey little guy. It's nice to see you again." Tai smiled as he lifted his partner from the ground.

"It's great to see you too," Koromon smiled, "And thanks for believing in me and having the courage to stand up to Devimon."

"Do you really think I had that much to do with it?" Tai asked in doubt.

"Of course!" Koromon exclaimed, "I don't know exactly how it works but I do know that I didn't have the power to digivolve to ultimate until you had enough courage to get your crest to glow!"

"My crest?" Tai looked puzzled.

"Yeah, that thing hanging around your neck. Devimon kept it from us so that we couldn't use its power."

"How- do you know?" Tai was taken aback.

"I'm not sure how, but when I was fighting Devimon we had some sort of a connection, and we knew everything each other was thinking. I learned all about your crest and the crests of the other tamers."

"Really?"

"Tai!" the call turned his and Koromon's heads down the mountain. They saw Kari, Rika, Eric, Izzy, T.K., Salamon, Renamon, Tentomon, Terriermon, and Patamon running towards them.

"Tai!" Kari rushed to her brother, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly.

"Kari, I'm glad you're okay." Tai hugged his sister tightly as well. She then pulled away and smacked the boy across the face. "Hey?"

"Tai, next time you decide to martyr yourself, make sure that I give you a good smack in the face first, okay?" Kari stated angrily.

"Right, Kari, I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure you got away safely."

"Well next time you're coming with me, whether you like it or not."

"Right." Tai smiled at his sister.

"Tai that was amazing!" Eric and Izzy commented to the boy simultaneously. Tai laughed in response.

"Thanks guys, he he."

"How did you do it Tai?" Izzy asked, "How did you get Agumon to digivolve twice?"

"I'm not sure. Koromon says that it has something to do with this pendant here." Tai held up the small trinket.

"I didn't even know I had it in me!" Koromon piped.

"MetalGreymon is so cool, Koromon." T.K. commented to the in-training digimon. "Even cooler than Angemon."

"That's not funny T.K." Patamon complained. This forced an exhausted laugh from the group.

"Way to go Tai." Rika raised her hand to the boy.

"Thanks, Rika." Tai extended his hand to join hers. A stir from the base of the slope distracted them, however. "What's that?" The six turned their heads the the base of the mound. Tyrannomon was lifting himself up the hill.

"You all did it!" Tyrannomon congratulated the six digidestined standing above him. "You worked together and even though MetalGreymon delivered the final blow, you all stopped him. Thank you so much."

"Thank you for helping us, uh-" Tai tried to thank the digimon, but was at a loss for who he was.

"This is Tyrannomon." Kari introduced the dinosaur. "Devimon sent him to attack us, but we destroyed the dark gears controlling him and then he helped us."

"Thank you Tyrannomon." Eric and Rika thanked the large red monster.

"Speaking of dark gears I should go check on all of the digimon that Devimon enslaved, and make sure that they've all been purified."

"Devimon absorbed all of the dark gears, so they should all be back to normal." Izzy said happily.

"Yes, but when the dark gears were separated from them, they were in extreme pain. I want to make sure that they're all okay." Tyrannomon started walking towards a cave in the mound. "This leads to the barracks, I won't be long."

"Okay then. We'll wait for you."

"And then after I come back we can all return to the Citadel, and I can clear up any misconception with Meramon about what happened with General Leomon."

"Thank you." Izzy and Kari bowed to the digimon as he entered the dark cavern.

"So, is it over with? Now that we've destroyed Devimon?" Rika asked.

"No, what about Matt?" T.K. protested.

"And Joe. He saved me from that Dark Needle. I can't just forget about him." Kari added.

"It's not just Matt and Joe." Izzy continued. "Those evil digidestined are regular kids just like us. They were sucked into this world too, and they tried to save it until Devimon corrupted them. I think it's our responsibility to try to purge the Dark Needles out of them."

"Izzy's right, those tamers need our help just as much as the digital world does." Eric agreed.

"But they're the ones causing all of the problems." Rika argued.

"Exactly." Tai said forcefully. "Which means that if we save the evil digidestined, then we'll save the digital world as well."

"We can kill two birds with one stone." Kari said happily.

"So, are we all in agreement? We need to find the evil digidestined and save them from Devimon's dark needles." Tai announced.

"That's right." Eric and Izzy both agreed.

"You can count on me big brother." Kari smiled.

"And I have to save my brother." T.K. added.

"Well, Rika?" The group turned to her.

"Ugh," Rika ducked her head. She wasn't favoring staying in the digital world longer, but she knew she had no choice. "Okay, I'm in." She nodded her head.

"Besides, what else were you going to do?" Tai laughed.

"So where did the evil tamers go?" Patamon asked.

"We saw them board the Airdramon and then take off into the air, but we have no idea where they were headed." Gatomon added.

"They're going to Server, where Kazu and the other crests are." Koromon replied.

"Another vision from Devimon?" Tai asked the digimon. Koromon nodded.

"What do you mean other crests?" Eric asked.

"I mean the other crests. The ones you guys can use to digivolve your partners to ultimate." The group was taken aback by this.

"You mean, we can all do what you did?" Izzy questioned. "Did you know about this Terriermon?"  
"Of course. Every digimon knows about the stages of digivolution. There's rookie, and there's champion, and there's ultimate, and theres-"

"So wait," T.K. interjected, "If we have crests, then that means that Devimon must have stolen them from us somehow. Do we know how he got them?"

"I don't remember who he got them from, but I do remember that he stole them from some other digimon." Koromon replied.

"I bet it was that armored digimon that we ran into when we first got here." Izzy pondered.

"I think there's a more serious question at hand." Eric interjected.

"Eric's right." Tai took over Eric's thought. "If we have crests, then that means the other digidestined must have crests too."

"Oh damn, I didn't even think of that." Eric said depressingly. "I was just wondering how the hell we were going to get to Server."

"Kazu took your crests to Server to hide them, but I'm sure he kept all of the evil tamers crests with him, so they'll probably all digivolve into ultimate within a few minutes of arriving at the continent." Koromon said solemnly.

"That's just great." Tai said as the group dropped their heads. "Wait, didn't you say that you weren't able to digivolve until I had enough courage?"

"Yeah, that's because you have the crest of courage."

"How much knowledge you got in there Koromon?"

"Just a few days worth."

"So we're only able to digivolve when we exhibit the qualities of our individual crests, interesting." Izzy added. "But I wonder how we're supposed to know which crests are ours, and how we're going to find them. Also, what crests would a bunch of evil digidestined have."

"It probably wouldn't be anything virtuous like courage." Eric commented.

"That probably buys us some time though." Rika agreed as well. "They probably have to express the qualities of their crests too, otherwise they won't be able to digivolve to ultimate."

"And we've already got a head start." Kari said happily, rubbing Koromon's head.

"Thanks." Koromon smiled.

"Get Them!" a voice called out of nowhere. The tamers and their partners twisted their heads around, trying to find the source of the voice. They didn't have to search long, as after a few seconds, a massive force of champion digimon dropped from the sky and surrounded them.

"Oh no!" Tai exclaimed as they watched the digimon close in on them. Nanimon then slipped through the masses of digimon, glaring at them.

"Nanimon!" The twelve exclaimed together.

"That's right," Nanimon growled, "I bet you weren't expecting to see me and my team so soon. You see, this is an island, there aren't many places to hide, especially when your hiding place is a big black building sitting on top of a mountain."

"Nanimon, you've got everything all wrong." Tai exclaimed. "We're not your enemy, in fact we just destroyed Devimon."

"Lies, all lies!" Nanimon screamed. "I saw your other team members board an Airdramon and take off over the ocean. Why did they leave you hear, to clean up the mess?" Nanimon stared angrily at them.

"Nanimon, please. We're your fri-" The champion's moved in.

***

Meramon tightened the ropes around Tai's wrists, and then walked down the steps of the platform to join the other digimon staring at the row of tamers.

"Tamers," Meramon sighed, "You are charged with crimes against the digital world. You and your kinsmen have committed atrocious acts against innocent digimon, and for that, you will all be executed in accordance with File Island Law."

"Meramon please, you have to listen to us. We didn't attack Leomon, we tried to save him from Zoe and Seadramon-"

"Shut Up!" Meramon screamed. "You have poisoned this city enough with your lies. We have eyewitnesses that will testify to your wicked ways. Unfortunately for you they won't be coming to testify, since the entire city voted to destroy you."

"Meramon..." Tai hung his head sadly.

"Listen Meramon," Eric took over for Tai, "We just destroyed Devimon. Does that sound like something an evil tamer would do?"

"I don't believe you. Devimon must have left on the Airdramon that fled the island."

"That's not true Meramon. Listen, Tai defeated Devimon with the crest of courage!" This shocked Meramon.

"That's not true."

"It is!" Eric protested. "Devimon was about to kill Tai, and he stood up to him. Tai's crest activated and digivolved Greymon to MetalGreymon."

"We have a witness too." Rika tried to persuade. "He's a Tyrannomon, he says he knows you."

"Now I know you're lying about destroying Devimon." Meramon growled. "Tyrannomon was one of my top generals, and he was taken over by the dark gears. Execute them now!"

"Meramon, please!" Kari screamed to the flaming digimon. "We destroyed the dark gears within Tyrannomon and he helped us defeat Devimon."

"Enough!" Mermaon raised his arm, signaling the Deputymon behind the tamers to start the execution.

"Please don't!" Izzy yelled.

"Fire Now!" Meramon instructed.

"Stop right this instant!" A voice from behind the crowd drew everyone's attention and stopping the execution. Everyone turned to see where the voice came from, and were surprised when Leomon shoved his way through the crowd.

"My friend, you're awake. I'm so happy to see you in a healthy condition!" Meramon said happily.

"These digidestined are not our enemies. They did not attack me: the Seadramon did. Then when I was wounded, they had Greymon and Kyubimon protect me. I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for them. And Gargomon and Gatomon brought me inside the city so that someone would find me and give me medical attention. The only reason they left me (which I instructed them to do), was so they could find their partners and make sure they were safe."

"Leomon, do you realize what your saying?" Meramon was stupefied at his friend's outburst. "They are criminals against you and the rest of the digimon on this island. Surely you must be mistaken. They didn't save you!" Meramon thrust his hand towards the six tamers standing on the platform above.

"I swear to you, it is the truth."

"Don't listen to him Meramon," Nanimon waved his hands in front of the ruler, "He's delirious. I mean, he just came out of the hospital for Yggdrasil's sake."

"Nanimon, call your witnesses." Meramon told the irritating digimon at his feet.

"What? But Sir, you said yourself we didn't need them-"

"That was before the crime was contested, by the very victim. Now summon your witnesses now."

"I- I can't sir."

"And why is that?" Leomon asked as he moved over the angry digimon.

"Because- they don't exist anymore." Nanimon turned his head away in embarrassment.

"Who were they?" Meramon growled.

"The two Unimon brothers."

"The same Unimon brothers who were destroyed yesterday by Woodmon and Garurumon?" Meramon roared.

"And Nanimon's strongest political allies." Leomon stated.

"What are you implying Leomon?" Nanimon turned to face the threatening digimon.

"He's not implying anything!" Meramon swiped at the digimon, knocking him into the crowd, which quickly cleared the way for Meramon to continue his confrontation. "You used me Nanimon! You used me for your own selfish desires!"

"No sir, I promise you I didn't!"

"Then why did you spread these lies?"

"I didn't know they were lies sir, I only know what the Unimon told me."

"And yet you didn't even bother to tell me that they were your witnesses?"

"I didn't think you needed to know sir."

"I will decide what I do and do not need to know!" Meramon grasped the small digimon in his palm. "Now give me one good reason why I shouldn't execute you in place of these tamers, who I am now thoroughly convinced have just destroyed Devimon and liberated this island?"

"Don't destroy him!" a voice behind Meramon turned the flaming digimon around. His eyes laid on Kari.

"But girl, why would you have me spare the life of the one who sought your destruction?"

"It's not his fault. The evil tamers have done so much damage to this island. It's natural for him to be scared and suspicious of us."

"But-"

"She's right Meramon," Leomon pushed Meramon's arm down towards the ground, convincing him to release the digimon in his palm. Nanimon dropped to the ground, breathing heavily, and then ran through the crowd, escaping the sights of Meramon.

"And to think, I actually questioned you. Cut the children down and free their partners from the prison." Meramon snapped his fingers, stirring the digimon around him into action.

"Oh damn, that was close." Eric breathed a heavy sigh.

"Close?" Rika exclaimed, "I don't think that even qualifies as an understatement." Rika's binds then released, dropping her from the wooden pole she was tied to. She watched as the others were released from their binds as well.

"Why did you defend Nanimon Kari?" T.K. asked the girl as he walked up to her. "He was trying to kill us."

"He was just scared, and nothing happened to us. I don't think he should be punished for that."

"But we almost were," Tai commented. "In the future, we need to be really careful about interacting with this world's digimon, otherwise we might find ourselves in another situation just like this, and we won't always have Leomon to protect us." Leomon smiled at Tai's comment as he walked up to the digidestined.

"So you really destroyed Devimon?" Leomon said impressed. They nodded.

"It was all Tai, actually." Izzy explained, "He was able to digivolve Greymon into MetalGreymon with the crest of courage. Then it was a piece of cake for MetalGreymon to destroy Devimon."

"You found your crests?" Leomon said surprised.

"Just Tai's, and how did you know about the crests?" Rika inquired. A galloping Centarumon caught their attention though, breaking the conversation.

"Meramon," Centarumon gained the leader's attention, "A massive caravan of digimon has arrived at the gate!"

"Is it Devimon's army?" Meramon questioned.

"It's the same digimon, but there's no dark aura. They must have been liberated from the dark gears. And Tyrannomon is at the front of them."

"Let's go now!" Meramon ran after Centarumon as the entire crowd of digimon made their way to the city gate.

"Come digidestined, see the fruits of your valor!" Leomon waved his arm as he chased after the crowd of digimon.

"We'll meet up with you, but we've gotta find our partners first!" Tai called after him.

"They're at the prison, I'm sure you know the way!" Leomon escaped their line of sight.

"Oh, that was exhausting." Tai then dropped to the ground, breathing tiredly.

"Come on Tai, don't be lazy." Rika kicked the boy's stomach lightly.

"Yeah," Eric added, "There'll be plenty of time to sleep after we..." Eric's stomach suddenly rumbled with a vengeance, "After we eat- damn I'm hungry."

***

"To the digidestined!" Meramon announced as he raised his wooden cup into the air. The digimon around him, seated at the highest table in the banquet hall, raised their glasses as well. The hundreds of digimon seated at the tables below them followed. They knocked their glasses together and cheered for the six children, who were seated at Meramon's table. Surrounding them were Leomon, Tyrannomon, and a mess of other digimon who Tai and the others assumed were Meramon's Generals and advisors. Nanimon was nowhere to be seen.

"Thanks Meramon," Izzy started, "But we wouldn't have been able to do anything if it weren't for Tyrannomon. He's the one who helped us get into the Citadel, and he held off the palace guards while we fought Devimon."

"Well then," Meramon smiled, "To Tyrannomon as well then." He raised his glass, followed by everyone except Tyrannomon, who was laughing in embarrassment. "To Tyrannomon!" A roar came from the crowd. "We're glad to have you back, good friend."

"So, children," Leomon turned to the group of twelve (tamers and digimon partners) to his left. "What are your plans now that you've saved our little island?" Leomon laughed in relief.

"We're going to Server." T.K. announced cutting off both Tai and Rika, who were about to say the same thing. "So we can save the other digidestined."

"Save them?" Meramon looked at the children oddly.

"Yes," Tai then took over, "The evil tamers used to be regular kids, just like us, until Devimon corrupted them with the dark needles. We're going over there to purify them so they can be free of Devimon's curse."

"How..." Meramon began to shed a single tear, "How honorable."

"Some of our friends are the tamers who have been taken over by the dark needles too," Kari spoke to the digimon. "Actually, I'd probably be with them right now if a boy named Joe hadn't jumped in front of me right when the dark needle was about to hit me."

"This is tragic," Meramon announced solemnly. "We will help you any way we can, children. Eat and drink your fill tonight, for tomorrow I will personally take you to the port city, were we will find you passage to the continent." Meramon gave one final toast to the digimon, then commenced with the feast.

The children quickly absorbed the food in front of them, from colorful fruits to delicious meets that they were a little concerned about what they came from but didn't care since they were so hungry. After the banquet ended, digimon began to disperse to the city to celebrate the liberation of the island. Meramon, Leomon, and Tyrannomon gave the digidestined a tour of the city while digimon from all over the metropolis shot their attacks into the sky where they crashed into each other and formed fireworks. Once the festivities began to die down, Meramon brought them to a lavished palace shining with gold and silver panels in the moonlight.

"You will sleep here tonight children, I'm sure it will be a sound relief from whatever harsh conditions you have had to endure over the past few days." Meramon guided them into the palace.

"As long as it's not a cave or a prison cell I'm pretty much okay with anything you can give us." Rika commented.

Meramon brought them into the hallways of the building, which were just as lavish and glowing as the outside, and showed them to each of their rooms. Each of them (and their partners) were surprised and delighted to find that each of their rooms was much like a fancy hotel room, with a king sized bed, a dresser holding countless books, a table with a small feast of fruits resting on it for consumption by the digidestined and their partners, and probably the most attractive feature of all, a bathroom with a working toilet and shower.

"Oh, thank God!" Eric exclaimed when he saw the bathroom in his room (or suite). He bypassed the soft bed and mountain of food for the shining white water closet in front of him. Tentomon came in after him, dropping to the bed in exhaustion. "I never thought I'd see a bathroom again." Eric sighed, walking over to the bed. He dropped right next to Tentomon.

"Here you go, Tai." Leomon opened the door to Tai's room, allowing him and Agumon (who had digivolved during the feast) to go and rest. Tai sat down in a recliner in the corner of the room, while Agumon laid himself on the soft bed.

"So how about this:" Agumon began, "You can have that recliner, and I'll sleep on this bed tonight." He smiled.

"Agumon, I'll fight you for that bed whether you're Koromon or MetalGreymon." Tai joked, closing his eyes in exhaustion. "Or I would if I wasn't too tired to get out of this chair..."

"Tai?" Agumon lifted his head to see his partner sound asleep in the recliner. "Alright then, bed's all mine." Agumon dropped his head again, sighing with relief. Finally, he thought. It's over, at least for the moment." Agumon sighed again, this time with exhaustion. He closed his eyes and twisted around, wrapping the blanket around him. Agumon then fell asleep peacefully for the very first time in his life.


	13. Sailing the Wine Dark Sea

I know this chapter kind of sucks but I need it to transition to Server, so just bear with me. Also, this title has no relation to the book by Thomas Cahill.

**Chapter Thirteen: Sailing the Wine Dark Sea**

Sepikmon yawned as he departed from his small. He rubbed his eyes as he made his way down the moist cobble street, slipping nearly ten times thanks to the mist that had washed over from the ocean not one mile away.

"Sepikmon, Sepikmon!" a digimon called from across the street. The ape turned his head to see his friend Gotsumon scurrying towards him.

"What is it Gotsumon?" the aged digimon asked as he rubbed his eyes yet again.

"Did you hear the news? Meramon's coming down to the city today, and he has a big announcement!"

"Yes, I heard. I'm heading over to the office today to help set up the stage."

"Do you have any idea what it's about?" The digimon bounced in front of him excitedly.

"I have no clue, my friend, but I imagine it has something to do with the explosions atop Infinity Mountian a couple days ago." Sepikmon then began to walk away again. Gotsumon followed at his heels.

"You know, Sepikmon, I have a Dolphmon friend who says that he was circling the island last night, and he saw fireworks over the metropolis on the other side of the mountain."

"That's preposterous Gotsumon, what could they possibly have to celebrate?"

"I don't know?" Gotsumon had a confused look on his face, "Maybe the destruction of Devimon?"

"Ha ha," A weak laugh made its way out of Sepikmon's raspy throat. "If only that were true."

"Dare to dream, Sepikmon," the rock creature laughed below him, "dare to dream."

***

Meramon stood over the anxious crowd as they gathered in front of his podium. Now midday, Meramon was having a hard time controlling his excitement. He clasped his hand over his mouth, forcing himself to breath through his nose, calming the flaming digimon down. He closed his eyes, calming himself even more. It was for the benefit of all the digimon in the city that he told them all in person instead of letting the rumors spread like wildfire.

"Meramon," a voice to his side spoke. Meramon turned to see his advisor Wizardmon walking towards him. "Almost the entire city has gathered in the square."

"Alright then," Meramon cleared his throat and stepped towards the podium.

"Sir, are you sure you want to delve into the past two years before making the announcement?"

"It is a speech, Wizardmon." Meramon smiled at the digimon, "Besides, they'll appreciate the news more if the history is immediate in their minds."

"Right then." Wizardmon walked away from the podium, slipping through the curtain behind Meramon, where Leomon, Tyrannomon,, and the six digidestined and their partners waited.

"Ladies and Gentlemen*!" Meramon's booming voice radiated to the crowd, who ceased their mumbling and turned their attention towards Meramon. "Two years ago, tragedy struck this island: no, not just this island, but the entire digital world. Two years ago, the dark beacon spread across the world, weakening all of us to just our rookie stages and forcing our greatest protectors out of existence. Then, amidst all of the chaos, Devimon appeared on our island and began to terrorize us just as we started to recover. Then, a group of seven human children suddenly appeared on our island, and tried to save us from the tragedy. Alas, they were consumed by Devimon's dark needles, eventually turning against us." As Meramon spoke, a solemn look spread over the crowd. "But five days ago," these words refocused the crowds attention at Meramon, "Seven more human children arrived on our island. Tragedy struck again as one of the children sacrificed themselves to protect another of their group from the dark needle." Realizing there was at least an eighth evil child, the crowd began to murmur with worry. "His sacrifice was not for nothing, however. Upon his selfless act, one of the children's digivices activated, and his partner, an Agumon, gained enough strength to digivolve to Greymon, for the moment defeating the evil digidestined and making him immune to the powers of the dark needle." Meramon's voice filled with excitement to match the crowd's changing tone. "Afterwards, each of the other children's digivices activated, allowing their partners to digivolve to Kyubimon, Gargomon, Kabuterimon, Gatomon, and an Angemon. The six children became immune to the darkness of Devimon, and then arrived at his Citadel. The boy with a Greymon used the crest of courage to digivolve his partner to MetalGreymon, and together, they defeated Devimon!"

The crowd roared with excitement at Meramon's words, them being the greatest thing they had heard in two years. Meramon then stuck his arm behind the curtains, waving his hand forward.

"Go on Tai." Eric and Izzy pushed the boy towards Meramon.

"Wait, what are doing?" He said nervously as the two boys shoved him closer to the flaming arm.

"It'll be okay Tai!" Agumon said as he pulled his partner closer to the curtain. "Meramon only burns someone when he's angry."

"But-the crowd-and you guys-I didn't do anything alone!" Tai protested.

"None of us got our partners to digivolve to ultimate, Tai." Rika laughed. "You'll be fine." She helped the two boys give a final push, shoving Tai towards Meramon, who was now waving his hand impatiently. Tai's arm fell into his grasp and Meramon yanked the boy out where he landed next to the fiery digimon. Tai winced when he landed next to the digimon, but quickly realized that the digimon wasn't going to burn him, then looked up at the crowd ahead. Agumon jumped to his left.

"Here is the boy and his partner Agumon, who have liberated our home!" The crowd gasped at the human at first, but then entered a roar of applause.

***

"I can't believe you made me do that." Tai growled at his partner as he followed behind Meramon, Leomon, and Tyrannomon, who were leading the way towards the docks.

"It wasn't that bad, was it?" Agumon smiled.

"Not that bad? It was horrible! I hate public speaking!" Tai then yelled to the dinosaur to his side. "That's it- I'm switching partners. Go with T.K. He likes MetalGreymon. I'll take Patamon." Tai jokingly turned his head away from Agumon.

"At least I'll be appreciated." Patamon stated from his place on T.K.'s head.

"Come on, Patamon. It was a joke." T.K. moaned.

"Yeah, sure." Patamon leaped off of T.K.'s head and landed on Tai's nest of hair. "Take me to the top, okay Tai."

"But-" Agumon tried to interject.

"I'm sure this crest will work great on you, Patamon!" Tai laughed.

"Patamon digivolve to... MetalPatamon!" the bird/angel laughed. Agumon sighed.

"He's just kidding Agumon." Kari said, running up to the dinosaur. "Isn't that right Tai?" Kari glared at her brother.

"I'm just joking, Agumon." Tai laughed as Patamon departed from his head and returned to T.K.

"I thought you wanted to be Tai's partner?" T.K. mumbled at the digimon on his head.

"Children, your destiny awaits." Leomon spread his arms to attract the digidestined's attention. They turned their heads away from the conversation between Patamon and T.K. to see the massive ocean spread before them.

"Beyond this vast sea lies your fallen friends." Tyrannomon spoke above them.

"The docks are just down this path," Meramon indicated, "There we will find you passage to Server."

"Thank you Meramon." T.K. said the the flaming leader. Don't worry Matt, he then said to himself, I didn't forget about you.

The three champion digimon led them down the cobbled path to a string of wooden docks bustling with digimon running around the structures. Each of the docks led to a massive deck, partially submerged in water.

"Come, we will get you a barge." Meramon walked out of the alley they were in and walked out onto one of the relatively empty docks. He then strode onto one of the platforms floating atop the water. "Climb aboard digidestined!" He called as he walked to the front of the deck. The tamers followed with Leomon, while Tyrannomon (who was too heavy to fit on the dock) stayed on the pier.

"So, will you do it?" Meramon was standing at the front of the deck, talking to an unseen entitiy.

"Who's he talking to?" Rika commented. A booming voice under the ocean soon responded.

"Anything for the children that saved the island." The six children were shocked as the deck they were on suddenly rose ten or fifteen feet. They looked over the side of the deck to see a monstrous blue form rise from the sea below them.

"What is that?" Izzy inquired.

"It's a Whamon." Terriermon replied.

"That's one big champion." Tai said as he leaned over the side.

"Whamon isn't a champion, children." Leomon stated as he leaped onto the whale. "He's an ultimate." A shocked expression appeared on the tamers' faces.

"If he was an ultimate, then why didn't he just defeat Devimon?" Rika yelled.

"How do you expect me to get up Infinity Mountain you loud mouthed girl." The Whamon under them laughed, rocking the wooden platform.

"Children," Meramon began as he walked towards the exit, "Whamon will gladly take you to Server. It should only take a few days to get from File Island to the continent, and there's food, water, blankets, a screen to pull over the deck in case it rains, and of course," Meramon indicated to a tall wooden box in the corner of the deck, "Lavatories." A sigh from Eric confirmed the group's thanks. "Well then, I'll leave you to your new quarters." Meramon leaped from the platform and landed on the dock below. "Come, Leomon."

"Thank you once again, children. We are forever indebted to you."

"Thanks but without you and Tyrannomon, we would've been defeated a long time ago." Kari smiled at the lion.

"Then I guess we're indebted to each other." Eric remarked.

"Regardless, thank you for all of your help; and good luck on Server. I'm sure you'll find your friends soon." Leomon leaped from the platform and looked up at the group of digidestined and digimon standing above him. "And don't worry. Devimon didn't know it, but your crests need you just as much as you need them. They will find you, not the other way around." Leomon then began to walk away.

"Leomon-" Tai ran towards the digimon, who was departing down the dock. He was only stopped by the edge of the wooden platform. "Leomon, what are you talking about?"

Leomon walked a little farther down the dock, giving the Whamon a tap as he departed. "Onwards, my friend." Whamon then sunk under the water, leaving only the dock un-submerged.

"Hold on tight my friends, this part's a little bumpy!" Whamon shoved away from the dock.

"Leomon, what are you talking about?" Tai called as Whamon sped away from the dock. Tai had to drop to the ground as Whamon's speed was too high for the boy to stand up in.

***

"So Tentomon, who's Yggdrasil?" Eric asked as he leaned against the edge of the deck. A three foot wooden wall protected the boy from falling into the ocean below.

"Yggdrasil?" Tentomon turned his head to his partner. "I uh, I don't really know how to explain it. Yggdrasil, well, it uh..." Tentomon scratched his head.

"Yggdrasil created our world." Renamon answered for him.

"Thank you Renamon." Tentomon responded in a sing-song voice.

"So he's like your god?" Rika asked the yellow fox next to her.

"Is that what you call Yggdrasil in your world?" She inquired.

"Well it's a bit more complicated than that. I've never heard of anyone referring to any god as Yggdrasil."

"Actually now that you mention it, I think I've heard that name before." Izzy mentioned.

"Really, where?" T.K. asked.

"I'm not sure." Izzy dropped his head in his arms. "I'd check my computer, but it's low on charge, and there's that whole "No Internet Connection" problem too."

"It's Norse." Eric noted. This turned the heads of the other digidestined.

"How do you know that?" Rika questioned.

"Yeah a second ago you were asking about it too." Kari added.

"I just remembered now. I read about it in a book about mythology. I don't remember exactly what it was, but it had something to do with a huge tree."

"So the digimon worship a big tree?" Rika said comically.

"I don't remember anything about Yggdrasil being a tree." Tentomon scratched his head.

"And it doesn't make a lot of sense either." Izzy noted. "How could a tree create a digital dimension?"

"I don't know." Eric responded. "It's just what I remember."

"What did Leomon mean by the crests will come to us?" Tai changed the subject.

"That's a good question." Kari answered.

"Do you remember what happened with Devimon?" Izzy began.

"A lot of things happened with Devimon, you should be more specific." Rika snapped.

"When Greymon digivolved to MetalGreymon. The crest that Devimon had hidden inside himself came to Tai when he had enough courage. I'll bet that when we start to express the individual qualities of our crests, then they'll come to us."

"There's a problem with that Izzy." Eric added. "We don't know what our crest qualities are."

"Agumon, do you know what crest powers they have?" Tai turned to the yellow dinosaur.

"Uh-huh." Agumon nodded, prompting a smile from the group.

"So what are they Agumon?" T.K. asked the boy.

"Yeah, tell us." Kari added.

"Don't." Eric stopped them.

"Why not?" Rika growled.

"Eric's right Rika." Izzy took over. "If we know the powers of our crests, then we'll never exhibit their qualities."

"How do you figure that shorty?" She responded.

"Think about it Rika," Eric answered, "If Tai knew that he was supposed to be courageous to digivolve Greymon into MetalGreymon, then he would've probably rushed up to Devimon, acting like a fool. Instead of standing up to Devimon like he did, he would have proudly put himself in mortal danger, and gotten himself killed instead of digivolving his partner."

"Hey!" Tai protested.

"Eric's right Tai." Agumon told his partner. "You can't be courageous if you're trying to be courageous. It's a paradox."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Rika yelled. "Sit around until we have some random emotion that matches our crest?"

"Tai didn't." Izzy reasoned. "He had the exact emotion he was supposed to right when he needed it. I'll bet the same thing will happen to us. Our greatest virtue will show itself right when we need it."

"So what are we supposed to do in the meantime?"

"Agumon," Eric began, "Tell Tai what our crest powers are." This drew a confused look from the rest of the group.

"Why?" The dinosaur questioned.

"It's better than just keeping it to yourself."

"Good point." Agumon began whispering in Tai's ear. Tai chuckled after the digimon was done.

"What's so funny Tai?" Izzy growled.

"Rika's crest," Tai said in-between his now hysterical laughs, "Everyone else's makes sense, but hers is just so off. Ha Ha!"

"Hey!" Rika stood up and walked over to Tai. "What's so funny?" She said, lifting the boy up. Tai was too busy laughing to be bothered by her.

"It's definitely not the crest of patience." Eric commented. Izzy laughed, the only one to get the joke.

"What is so funny goggle-head?" Rika yelled, throwing the boy down to the wooden deck.

"It's- It's nothing Rika..." Tai breathed heavily, having recovered from the hysteria. Rika growled and then walked back to her spot next to Renamon.

"So if the same thing has to happen to us that happened to Tai in order to activate our crests, does that mean we're going to have to put ourselves in the same kind of danger?" Kari asked.

"Oh, Kari's right." Eric said sullenly. "Tai's courage only activated when he was about to be killed by Devimon. If Kari's right, then we might have to put ourselves in the same situations before Tentomon and the others digivolve to ultimate."

"I'm not putting Kari in that sort of danger, even if that's the only way to get Salamon to digivolve again." Tai said defensively.

"It'll be okay Tai." Kari responded to her brother, "I'll be okay. If it means helping to protect the digital world, I don't mind getting in a little danger."

"But Kari-"

"If it'll help save my brother, then I'll jump in front of a speeding Trailmon." T.K. half-joked.

"How did you know about Trailmon?" Patamon asked from his head.

"There's really such a thing as Trailmon? I was just joking."

"Heads up kids," Whamon suddenly spoke, "We've got company." The twelve stood up to see what Whamon was referring to. A raft floating oddly fast towards them caught their attention. A small robed figure stood on the raft.

"Who's on there?" Kari asked. They watched as the raft and figure floated alongside him.

"Something weird is gong on here kids, be careful." The raft knocked against the whale digimon, catching itself for a moment. The robed rider leaped off of the raft and landed on Whamon's deck. It positioned itself opposite the six children and their partners, who had gathered together near the back of the platform.

"Who are you?" Rika asserted.

"What," the figure under the hood growled, "You don't remember me?" The figure slipped an arm out of his robe, revealing a red glove.

"Oh no," Kari backed away.

"What is it Kari?" Tai questioned.

"It's Nanimon."

"That's right!" The small digimon flung it's robe away, revealing his putrid body. "I bet you forgot about me, didn't you?" the digimon laughed.

"What do you want you stupid little prick?" Eric walked up to the digimon.

"What I always want," The digimon became serious, "I want to destroy you! HAAA!!!" Nanimon launched himself towards Eric, his fist extended in attack.

"You little-" Eric slung his leg towards the digimon, driving his foot into the spherical monster and sending him spiraling to the back of the deck.

"And you're a champion? That's pathetic." Eric laughed at the angry digimon.

"Pathetic? What do you call this- Poo Throw!" Nanimon launched a disgusting material towards him.

"AAHH!" Eric jumped back.

"Salamon digivolve to... Gatomon!" Gatomon swung her paw at the attack, sending it into the weak digimon's head. It bounced back in pain.

"You will pay for that!" Nanimon glared at the feline.

"And how do you plan on doing that? You can't even defeat a human!" Gatomon pointed at Eric.

"He he, like this." Nanimon snapped his fingers.

"I know what's wrong now!" Whamon boomed at the tamers on top of him. Suddenly the water behind the ultimate digimon began churning violently. An army of sea digimon appeared behind them.

"I'd like you to meet my friends: Gesomon, Dolphmon, and General Ebidramon. You see, unlike the rest of those pansies on File Island, these guys know how to get things done, and they're not going to be fooled by your lies!" Nanimon began to laugh.

"I don't think we can fight all of these guys!" Izzy complained, staring at the thousands of sea-faring digimon staring at them.

"We're going to have to try." Tai protested. "Agumon, are you ready?" The digimon nodded.

"I've got a better idea." Whamon announced.

"Destroy those foul humans!" Nanimon announced, signaling the digimon behind him to aim towards Whamon and the digidestined.

"In here!" Rika then pulled the group back, nodding to the small hole that appeared behind them. She jumped in, followed by T.K., Kari, and Izzy.

"Where do you think it goes?" Tai asked Eric as the digimon began to make their way down the hole.

"Does it really matter?" Tentomon grabbed Eric's collar. Let's get out of here!" Tentomon pulled the boy down the hole. Agumon then shoved Tai into the portal.

"No!" Nanimon yelled in anger, "Why did you take so long to shoot you morons!" Nanimon was now yelling at the army behind him. He leaped from Whamon, who submerged himself, and landed on Ebidramon. "Go down there and get them!" The army of Gesomon and Dolphmon complied, diving down into the ocean.

"Where are we?" T.K. asked as they slid down the fleshy tube and landed on a soft, wet platform.

"Oh damn, we're in the guy's mouth." Rika said disgusted.

"Would you rather be in here, or out there?" Whamon asked as he dove down deeper into the ocean.

"Do you think you can outrun all of these digimon, Whamon?" Tai asked his transportation.

"Don't worry, these wimps have nothing on me. Ow!" Whamon flinched to an explosion on his back. "Guess I'd better hurry up." The twelve had to drop to the ground (or tongue) and grab hold as Whamon suddenly started swimming at top speed. "Don't worry kid's, I'll get you out of this mess." The children held on tight as Whamon sped through the ocean. A few hours and a dozen turns later Whamon stopped, opening his mouth to reveal a faint light. "Here we are."

"Did they stop attacking?" T.K. asked as he headed out of the digimon's mouth.

"Nope, I lost them." Whamon laughed. The twelve made their way through the slime of Whamon's mouth (which they were relieved to escape) and climbed onto a dark shore. They looked around to see that they were in a large cave with a pool of water in the middle.

"Where are we?" Izzy asked the ultimate.

"We're in an underground cave that leads to Server. I know I promised you a ride, but I think It'll be safer if you travel down this path right here." Whamon nodded his head in the direction of a barely visible cave behind them.

"Are you going to be okay by yourself?" Kari asked the whale.

"I'll be just fine young one. Only Whamon know of this cave, it's a complete secret to-" A sudden eruption of water interrupted the digimon as a massive army of Dolphmon and Gesomon suddenly covered him, dragging him down into the ocean.

"Whamon!" Tai called to the digimon as he was dragged into the ocean.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Go to Server and save your friends!" Whamon's head was dragged underwater.

"I can't just leave him!" Tai protested.

"Neither can I." Eric grabbed his digivice.

**"Tentomon, digivolve to... Kabuterimon!"**

**"Agumon, digivolve to... Greymon!"**

**"Renamon, digivolve to... Kyubimon!"**

**"Terriermon, digivolve to... Gargomon!"**

**"Patamon, digivolve to... Angemon!"**

"Get them guys!" Tai cheered to the digimon, who now lined the shore.

"No problem. Nova Blast!" Greymon fired his attack at the nearest Gesomon, who screamed in pain upon it's impact.

"Fox Tail Inferno!"

"Lightning Paw!"

"Gargo Laser!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Electro-Shocker!" Their attacks teamed together to free Whamon of his captors. They then stopped their focus on the wounded digimon and turned to the tamers and their partners.

"Nova Blast!" Greymon's attack was knocked away by the Gesomon as it launched itself at Kabuterimon, strangling the beetle.

"I guess a sneak attack is easier than a frontal assault." Tai commented. "Greymon, you think you can go a little farther?"

"Anything for you Tai!" Tai's digivice and crest glowed with power.

**"Greymon, digivolve to... MetalGreymon!"**

"Metal Claw!" The ultimate swat his digizoid arm at the Gesomon, who was easily knocked away by the attack.

"Thanks MetalGreymon!" Kabuterimon lifted himself into the air. "Electro-Shocker!" He fired his attack at an incoming Dolphmon.

"It's no problem. Giga Blaster!" MetalGreymon launched his attack at the kernel of Gesomon and Dolphmon.

"Let's help him out. Electro-Shocker!"

"Fox Tail Inferno!"

"Gargo Laser!"

"Hand of Fate!" The five attacks digitized the army of monsters attacking them.

"Great job MetalGreymon!" Tai cheered at the ultimate, who then lowered itself down to the ground, de-digivolving to Koromon in the process.

"Look out!" Kari screamed to the digimon partners as Ebidramon suddenly leaped from the waters, aiming its deadly claws at the weaker champions.

"Don't you dare!" Whamon leaped from the pool himself, grasping Ebidramon in his jaws. He slammed his mouth shut, slicing the evil digimon in half and deleting him. His data then faded away.

"Whamon, you're a true pal!" Tentomon thanked the whale after de-digivolving. The other champions followed, de-digivolving into Renamon, Terriermon, Salamon, and Patamon.

"It was no problem." Whamon laughed. "Now you must go."

"Are you sure you're going to be okay by yourself?" Tai asked him.

"Don't worry. Even though they've found my caves, there are still countless hiding places. I'll just go find some more secretive places to conceal myself, and leave once they've decided we're not here."

"Be careful Whamon." Eric called as the twelve departed up the cave.

"Press the button behind you, it'll conceal the cave so if they find this chamber they'll have no idea that you went up there." Tai complied, pressing the small gray button near the cave entrance. A rock door slid down from above, closing off the path between them and Whamon.

"Good luck Whamon." Tai whispered as they climbed up the dark cavern.

***

Nanimon sat on the small wooden raft, irritated that he couldn't follow the army to battle. His boredom disappeared when a Dolphmon arrived at the raft.

"Report Dolphmon." He said as he stood up, eying the champion professionally. "Where's Ebidramon?"

"He's been destroyed sir."

"What?" Nanimon stumbled backwards, almost falling into the ocean.

"He was destroyed by the Whamon. The digidestined and their partners destroyed a large portion of our forces, and then escaped in an unknown passageway.

"Agh," Nanimon sighed, slapping his hand against his head. "What else could go wrong?"

"There's something else sir."

"And what would that be?" Nanimon glared at the Dolphmon in front of him.

"The Greymon can digivolve. Most of the navy was destroyed by MetalGreymon."

Nanimon collapsed onto the raft, stunned. "The boss isn't going to like this."


	14. A Walk with Insincerity

**Chapter Fourteen: A Walk with Insincerity**

"Land right here Airdramon." Yolei pulled the champion's main forward, directing it down to the desert below, where Kazu was waiting. The digimon reluctantly landed in the hot valley, unloading his vicious cargo immediately. Yolei waited until the others had escaped the angry digimon, then leaped from the dragon herself. Once she landed on the ground, Airdramon threw itself into the air, flying away hastily.

"You'd think Devimon would give us fair warning before taking the black gear out of our ride." Ken growled. "Wormmon, take care of it."

"Right." The dark light spread from Ken Ichijoji's digivice and surrounded Wormmon.

**"Wormmon digivolve to..."** The evolved Stingmon flung itself off of the ground and sped towards Airdramon. "Spiking Strike!" He announced, severing the air dragon in half. It's data quickly faded away.

"Kazu," Yolei turned away from the former leader and his unapproved (but unopposed) action. "Where did you set up camp?"

"On a mountain a few miles from here, but why aren't we going back to File Island. We should be helping Devimon with whatever struggle he's having."

"Devimon told us to go on ahead to Server. We're to use the crests to digivolve to ultimate and take over the continent. Now where are they?" Kazu ignored Yolei and turned to Ken.

"Ken, at least have me go back to the island-"

"Devimon demoted him," Yolei interrupted, "I'm in charge now. Devimon will be fine on his own; nobody on that pathetic island can defeat him. Now where are the crests?" Kazu turned immediately away from Ken, who was irritated by the sudden lack of respect, and pulled out seven pendants from his pocket.

"You kept them with you?" Yolei said angrily. "Do you have any idea how stupid that is?"

"I can handle it ma'am." Kazu revealed the pendant hanging from his neck and nodded to his rookie level partner Hagurumon.

"Well, congratulations then." Yolei swiped the crests from Kazu's hand. "So how do we use these?"

"Devimon said that for us, we need to show the exact opposite of what they mean before we can have the digimon evolve again."

"So what was yours?"

"Ingenuity."

"Well it's no surprise Hagurumon digivolved so quickly, with a brainless lackey like yourself." Yolei laughed. Initially Kazu would have been insulted by this, but since Yolei was his new leader, he had no choice but to take the abuse. "Do you know which of these crests belongs to each of us?" Kazu nodded, taking the crests from her.

"Rationality." He handed the crest to Yolei.

"Determination," He spoke as he dropped a crest in Zoe's palm.

"Sincerity, for some reason." Kazu commented as he gave Koichi his crest.

"Well that shouldn't be too hard." Koichi replied as he slipped the pendant onto his neck.

"Prudence." He handed the crest to Ken.

"Vigor." He tossed the crest to Henry.

"Reliability." Joe received the pendant from Kazu.

"And finally, Friendship." This forced a laugh from both Kazu and Matt as the former handed the crest over to the spiky haired boy.

"Let's head out," Yolei faced the desert ahead of her, "I'd like to get all of us to ultimate before lord Devimon arrives. You know how much he despises failure."

***

"Wow I'm hungry." Tai moaned as he struggled to keep up with Rika, who was climbing up the diagonal slope with incredible strength and speed.

"Well maybe you should have stocked up on food before we left then." Eric stated as he passed the goggled boy holding Koromon.

"Maybe you should have, know-it-all." Tai breathed.

"First of all, I fail to see how that makes me a know it all. Second, I'm not the leader." He said sing-song.

"Since when am I the leader?" Tai snapped back.

"Since your partner digivolved to ultimate and started defeating everybody." Eric replied.

"Yeah, so you better get to work with the digivolving. It's your responsibility to do all the fighting until we find our crests." Rika said semi-sarcastically from ahead of the group.

"If I'm the leader, then how come none of you ever listen to me?" He said heavily. Carrying Koromon was draining him a lot more than he expected.

"We didn't say you were good at it." Kari smiled as she rushed ahead of him. Tai growled at her in opposition.

"Yes, fearless leader," Eric turned to the boy, boasting a faux Russian accent, "come to the front of the line and lead us to greatness." He topped the impression off with a salute. Tai starred in confusion. "What, you didn't get that?" He asked in his normal voice. Tai shook his head.

"None of us got it you moron." Rika growled from the front of the line.

"Wow, mom's right: I do live in my own little world." Eric returned to his advance up the cavern's slope. "Oh yeah Tai, I've been meaning to ask you: what's up with the goggles?"

"It's actually a funny story-" Tai was cut off.

"I smell fresh air!" Rika called, she and Renamon now a dozen yards ahead of the group. The ten behind the pair turned their heads upwards, chasing after Rika and Renamon, who had raced ahead of them even farther. They piled through the small cave, excited at the prospect of escaping the sea cavern. A short dash exposed them to a faint light radiating from farther down the cave. Discovering the escape route, the ten made a final dash towards the light. They quickly came upon the exit to the cave, sitting in the side of a cliff overlooking the ocean.

The group had to shield their eyes from the bright sun at first, but slowly adjusted. "This way!" They heard a scream from Rika, signaling them to discover a ledge that led up the cliff face. They followed it, eventually arriving at the top of the cliff and giving them their first look at the continent of Server.

"This is it?" Izzy said in disappointment. He looked over the barren desert ahead of them. "This is kind of anti-climatic."

"Yeah, out of the frying pan and into another frying pan." Eric joked.

"I thought we agreed on no more sarcastic comments." Rika whined from in front of them.

"That was when we were trapped in Devimon's dungeon with no hope of escape or salvation. This is the perfect time for jokes." Rika groaned and turned away from him.

"So is the entire continent just one big desert?" Tai said morbidly.

"There's more to Server than this." Tentomon protested. "This is just the desert sector of Server. The other two thirds of the continent are covered in mountains, forests, and cities."

"Well that's good," Rika responded, "But where are we supposed to go?"

"We need to find out where the evil digidestined are." Izzy proposed.

"But where are we supposed to start looking?" T.K. questioned.

"Whamon was going to drop us off at a port," Renamon began, "If we follow the shoreline, then we'll probably find the port city he was going to take us to."

***

"Here it is." Kazu presented the mountain range ahead of them, pointing to the tallest monument in the front of the group.

"Great, another mountain." Zoe groaned from the group behind Kazu and Yolei.

"This one's different. There's an enormous cavern system inside of it that leads to a main cave about the size of Devimon's chamber in the citadel. There's also some moss or something in it that naturally lights up the cavern.

"Oh, so we're going to be living inside a maze full of a glowing, probably poisonous plant," Zoe said sarcastically as she walked forward, "This should be fun."

"Shut up Zoe, let's just get going." Yolei began to walk forward, but Mushroomon jerked her backwards. Before she could protest, a wooden spear crashed into the ground ahead of her.

"Damn." The evil tamers heard as they looked upward. Hovering above them were a group of five digimon, glaring at them angrily.

"What are they?" Yolei growled to her partner.

"Saberdramon, Kokatorimon, Akatorimon, Yasyamon, and I don't know what the big one is." The mushroom responded, just before they staged another attack.

"Black Saber!" The dark bird announced before firing a dark, flaming sphere at the group.

"Joe!" Yolei commanded.

**"Gomamon digivolve to... Ikkakumon!" **Joe Kido's small fish-mammal partner glowed a bright dark light and evolved into a walrus like digimon, but five times the size with an enormous horn on top of his furry, white body. "Harpoon Torpedo!" He fired the horn straight at Saberdramon's attack, which erased the sphere and spiraled towards Saberdramon. Yasyamon, the ninja-like digimon on his back, leaped in front of the bird and swatted the missile away with his long, wooden staff.

"Everyone, attack at once!" The larger bird digimon in the sky announced.

"Black Saber!"

"Feather Sword!" The chicken-like Kokatorimon sent a stream of feathery blades at the tamers.

"Wind Cutter!" Akatorimon announced, sending a wave of air at the digimon.

"Double Strike!" Yasyamon sent a shock wave from the two staffs strapped to his arms.

"Wing Blade!" The ancient red bird sent a blade of energy down from his wings.

"Don't just stand there, do something!" Yolei screamed to the people and digimon surrounding her.

"Harpoon Torpedo!" Ikkakumon sent another attack towards the incoming energy.

**"Betamon digivolve to... Seadramon!"** Zoe's partner joined the battle. "Ice Blast!"

**"Gabumon digivolve to... Garurumon!"** The odd dog creature by Matt's side grew in size to become an impressive wolf with white and blue stripes. "Howling Blaster!"

**"Keramon digivolve to... Chrysalimon!"** Koichi's partner sent a yellow energy blast from his mouth. "Data Crusher!"

**"Hagurumon, warp digivolve to... Andromon!"** Kazu's gear partner showed his impressive new form, sending a wave of energy from his blade arm in the process. "Lightning Blade!" The five attacks easily bounced the enemy blasts away.

"Dive in now!" The red bird sped downwards, aiming at the Andromon. The three birds and the rider followed close behind.

**"Mushroomon** **digivolve to... Woodmon!"** Yolei's partner joined the fight, leaping into the air and striking the speeding leader in the head. Woodmon was not strong enough to deflect him, however, and was sent crashing into the ground.

"How's he so strong?" Yolei said angrily.

"He must be an ultimate." Kazu stated coldly as the flaming Garudamon crashed towards them.

***

"It looks safe enough." T.K. added to the groups conversation. They were debating how to approach the city they had stumbled upon, which was less than a mile away from the rock they were concealed behind.

"Not if the digimon there think that we're evil and want to kill us." Eric responded.

"But we need some supplies," Rika began, "And we need to figure out where the evil digidestined are. We can't just wait here because we're too scared to go into some stupid city."

"But if they think we're evil, they might jump us and try to execute us like Meramon did," Tai reasoned, "And we won't have Leomon or Tyrannamon hear to convince them otherwise."

"We can take them Tai." She argued, "We'll just have to have MetalGreymon convince them that we're not evil."

"That won't work Rika." Renamon opposed.

"Why not?"

"Ultimates inhabit this continent. MetalGreymon won't be able to protect us from a mob of digimon at the same level as he."

"If there are ultimates on this continent, then why didn't they go to the island and defeat Devimon?" Izzy inquired.

"The ocean between here and File Island has an odd magnetic pulse that de-digivolves any ultimate from crossing it except sea-faring digimon."

"Then why was Agumon able to cross the ocean?" Kari asked.

"Agumon wasn't an ultimate when he was crossing the ocean."

"So couldn't other ultimates on Server, de-digivolve, cross the ocean, and then re-digivolve on File Island?"

"Normal digimon don't have the ability to digivolve and de-digivolve at will. That is something that we have gained from partnering with humans."

"Why don't some of us go into the city?" Patamon suggested, returning the conversation to how to get into the town ahead. "If a few digimon go in there, then we can get some supplies and figure out where the evil tamers went, without arousing suspicion."

"That's a good idea Patamon." T.K. smiled under him.

"Well at least I'm good for something."

"It was a joke, all right!" T.K. yelled at his partner. Patamon laughed in response.

"That is a good idea, Patamon." Renamon interjected, "I'll go into town and get some supplies, then ask around and see if anyone's seen the evil digidestined."

"I'll go with you!" Terriermon announced, leaping from Izzy's shoulder and landing on his friend's head.

"That's okay Terriermon, you stay here."

"It's a big town Renamon," Terriermon persuaded, "It might take a while for you to talk to all of those digimon."

"Okay then." She replied. "Let's get going. Will the rest of you be okay?" The humans nodded.

"Just hurry up, okay Terriermon?" Izzy called to his partner as they walked away.

"Momentai!" The dog-bunny called to him.

"What does that mean?"

"I'm not exactly sure, I heard it from someone at the metropolis!" He laughed as he turned away from them, facing the city along with Renamon.

"Could you please get off of my head Terriermon?" The yellow fox under him asked.

"Now why would I do that?" He laughed.

"You know you're a lot more annoying now then when you were a Gummymon."

***

"Branch Drill!" Woodmon sent himself into the air, attacking Garudamon once again. The ultimate easily knocked the tree away, sending him crashing into Ikkakumonn, who too tired to continue with the battle, de-digivolved to Gomamon, joining the rest of the evil digidestined's partners. Woodmon pulled himself back up, rejoining Andromon, the only other surviving fighter. Garudamon towered over the two fighters, glaring at them happily.

"I can't believe the most devastating threat to the digital world is you weaklings." Garudamon laughed over the two exhausted digimon. "If it weren't for that damn ocean you all would have been defeated years ago." She raised her wings into the air: "Wing Blade!"

"Lightning Blade!" Andromon blocked the devastating attack, the energy beam streaming from his drill weakening from the harsh ultimate ray.

"You should have stayed on File Island weaklings," Garudamon taunted, "At least there you would have had a fighting chance in this world. Here you are nothing more than pawn scum for the rest of us to smash! Wing Blade!" Garudamon intensified her attack.

"She's just too strong, we have to get out of here." Koichi whined.

"No," Yolei opposed, "We're staying. This Garudamon's days are numbered."

"Are you crazy?" Ken said shocked. "We just can't defeat her in our current forms."

"I have no intention of keeping Woodmon a champion any longer." She replied. "Woodmon, Branch Drill now! Keep attacking Garudamon. Don't stop no matter what!" She screamed to her partner. Woodmon stared at her oddly at first, but then seeing the confidence in Yolei's eyes, nodded and leaped forward to combat.

"Branch Drill!" Woodmon slammed the trunk into Garudamon's arm, making her twitch.

"Get away you little pest." Garudamon swatted Woodmon to the ground. "Wing Blade!" She announced, firing another attack at Andromon.

"Lightning Blade!" Andromon tried to defend, but Garudamon's energy ray was too intense this time, blasting him away and de-digivolving him to Hagurumon.

"Woodmon keep attacking!" Yolei screamed. Woodmon complied.

"Branch Drill!" Woodmon dove in for another attack.

"When will you learn?" Garudamon sighed. "Fist of the Phoenix!" She thrust her fiery fist at Woodmon, easily sending him crashing into the sand below. "I think it's time I took care of you once and for all. Phoenix Claw!" She sent her flaming arm down to the earth.

"Keep attacking Woodmon!" Yolei screamed.

"She's going to get her partner killed." Matt observed.

"No she's not." Joe protested.

"What do you mean?" Matt questioned as Woodmon leaped from the ground in another attack.

"Yolei's entering a paradox, where she tries to act as irrational as possible so her crest will activate; but it's impossible for her to make her crest activate, so it won't work. But it's even more paradoxal because she knows that it wont work, making it irrational. She's entering an endless cycle of irrationality and rationality that can only end in..."

"Wing Blade!" Garudamon rose into the air and fired another beam of energy down at Woodmon.

"Take care of him now Woodmon!" Yolei screamed as her crest and digivice filled with dark energy and spiraled around Woodmon.

**"Woodmon digivolve to... Cherrymon!"** The new leafed digimon knocked the attack away, sending it back to Garudamon who had to dodge to avoid it.

"How can this be?" Garudamon inquired in amazement.

"Now it's time for a little payback." Cherrymon growled. "Cherry Blast!"

***

"I think this place is bigger than the metropolis and File Island's port combined." Terriermon stared in awe at the massive city he and Renamon were weaving through. They were making their way to the market area, which if it weren't for the signs every few blocks indicating where it was it would be impossible to find due to the size of the city.

"Terriermon, when we get to the market I think you should gather some supplies while I ask around about the evil tamers." Renamon stated to her rider.

"No way. There's twelve of us, remember. I can't carry enough supplies to hold all of us over for a few days, but you can." Terriermon protested. "Besides, you're kind of mean, and digimon might be suspicious if you start asking about evil digidestined."

"And you would fare so much better?"

"Of course. They'd never suspect a cute thing like me to be evil." Terriermon's laughter was met with a hard jerk of Renamon's head, sending the bunny-dog falling into the street ahead of her.

"Just for that you lost your ride." Renamon walked past the dazed digimon towards the entrance to the market.

"Renamon... wait up..." Terriermon stumbled off of the ground and chased after her.

"We'll meet up at the entrance to the market, okay." Renamon turned back to her friend, tapping a wall that surrounded the bazaar they had just arrived at. She slipped away from Terriermon, who was still dazed from her sudden attack, and walked into a large gateway that led to the market.

"You didn't have to... throw me on my... head." Terriermon collapsed in front of the gate.

"Excuse me sir..." Renamon turned to a shop owner near the entrance to the crowded area. "I'm making a trip inland with some friends of mine. Do you know where I can find a bulk of food and water?"

"Do you have any money?" The Mekanorimon asked.

"Of course."

"Then I'm your guy!" Mekanorimon opened a panel in his counter, allowing Renamon acccess to his shop deep in the tent.

"Thank you." She stated as she glided into the dark accommodation.

"Don't worry about me Renamon. I'll just stumble around until I..." Terriermon waddled past the fox as she entered the salesmon's domain.

"Now if I were someone who knew where to find some evil tamers... where would I be?" Terriermon leaped from the ground and landed on the connected roofs. He looked around and spotted a tall Greymon conversing with a GeoGreymon and Dogmon. "That looks promising." He stated as he bounced his way over to the three digimon.

"Excuse me!" Terriermon called to the three champions. They turned their heads in an irritated fashion toward the bunny dog.

"Buzz off kid." The GeoGreymon growled.

"Can I just ask you a question real quick?"

"What is it?" The Greymon growled.

"I'm with a team of digimon that's trying to stop the evil human children who have teamed up with Devimon. We heard they were on Server. Do you have any idea where they might have gone?"

"The evil tamers are on Server?" Greymon was taken aback. "That's impossible!"

"Relax Greymon," The GeoGreymon assured his friend. "The little prick is lying, just trying to spread some rumors for the fun of it." This calmed the Greymon down.

"I'm not lying!" Terriermon objected.

"Yeah sure." GeoGreymon patronized as the three of them walked away, forcing Terriermon to sigh.

"Hey kid, you need a little help?"

***

"Cherry Blast!"

"Wing Blade!" Cherrymon and Garudamon's attacks clashed again for the seventh time in a row. The two were breathing heavily, almost evenly matched.

"The damn thing is just too strong." Yolei growled. "Even with the energy boost Cherrymon received from just digivolving, the Garudamon just has too much experience." Behind her, Koichi was pulling his wounded partner out of the ground.

"I knew she'd screw up." Koichi whispered to the recovering Keramon.

"I could take care of that bird easily if I could just digivolve." The virus replied.

"Cherry Blast!"

"Wing Blade!" The two attacks faded away on contact with each other, each matching the other in power.

"Damn that Devimon for not putting me in charge, this would be over by now." Koichi groaned. A dark light slowly began to glow from the pendant on Koichi's neck.

"Look at Cherrymon, that weakling. There's fifty different ways he could turn this around if he wasn't too stupid to see them." Keramon growled.

"I know what you mean Keramon. Look at her giving orders like a buffoon. We're going to get our asses kicked and it's all her fault!" The light on Koichi's crest came into full bloom.

"What is that?" Keramon stared in awe.

"The opposite of sincerity." Koichi smiled.

**"Keramon, warp digivolve to..."** The dark light consumed Keramon as he leaped towards Garudamon. When the light dissipated, a six legged insect virus with an oval red and white body spun towards the ancient bird. **"Infermon!"**

"What?" Yolei stared in anger as the new ultimate launched himself at Garudamon.

"Spider Shooter!" A small cannon extended from Infermon's mouth, firing its ammo at the tall guardian.

"Fist of the Phoenix!" Garudamon sent her flaming arm at the bullets, but the newly digivolved and fully energized digimon's attack was too much for her. The cannon balls crashed into Garudamon's arm, shattering the bones within.

"Network Grenade!" Infermon withdrew his legs and arms into his oval shell and spiraled towards Garudamon, crashing his horn into the digimon's armor plated head. It cracked the helmet, sending Garudamon into the ground.

"My turn. Cherry Blast!" Cherrymon sent his own attack at Garudamon's exposed belly. The bombs exploded on impact, cratering in Garudamon's chest and sending her data flying into the sky. Infermon now hovered above her.

"Network Grenade!" Infermon pulled his body inwards and let himself fall onto Garudamon's throat. As his spiky body pierced the digimon, she screamed in pain for a short second before her data crumbled away. Infermon landed on the ground, breathing heavily. Behind him, Cherrymon was staring at a glowing orb floating where Garudamon used to be.

"What is it Cherrymon?" Yolei asked her partner.

"It's a digi-core."

"I've never seen one before. What is it?"

"It's what turns into an egg after a digimon dies. We've never seen one before because Devimon was consuming them all."

"So they give you power?"

"Yes."

"Go get it." She commanded. Cherrymon then rushed to the orb and grasped it in his palm. A bright light suddenly overcame Cherrymon. He screamed as the new power surged through him.


	15. All Too Easy

**Chapter Fifteen: All Too Easy **

"Somewhere, over the rainbow..." Eric hummed to himself as he lay on the rock opposite the others.

"Are you seriously singing?" Rika growled.

"I forgot my iPod, and the song's stuck in my head." Eric responded, "It's just some cruel fate or irony that I'm sucked into the digital world the one day I forget the most important electronic in a teenagers life."

"I thought that was a cell phone." T.K. stated comically.

"That's just for the love struck ones or people with friends." He laughed.

"Aren't you forgetting the super computer in your pocket?" Rika commented.

"That's a business phone Rika," he replied, "I'm going to put that thing through hell when I get a job."

"A smart phone and an iPod; isn't that kind of excessive?" Tai observed.

"It's just one of those cheap forty dollar shuffles. I got it for Christmas, damn."

"You know for a kid, you curse a lot." added Rika.

"Yeah, because I'm sure your mother never came at you with a bar of soap." Eric mocked. Rika growled in opposition, then scooped a small rock from the sand she was sitting on and tossed it at Eric's head. He quickly shoved himself away, narrowly avoiding the projectile. "What was that for?"

"For making fun of me!" She stated.

"You make fun of me all the time but I don't throw things at you!"

"It wasn't funny this time!"

"All right, all right, admittedly I crossed a line but you didn't have to try and hit me!"

"Wow, they argue more than me and you Kari." Tai stated to his little sister.

"You should go do something Tai." She responded.

"Why me?"

"You're the leader, remember?"

"Where did all of this leader stuff come from anyway?"

"It's just temporary until we find our crests," Eric broke away from his argument with Rika, "Once I've got one of those suckers around my neck I'll gladly take that title away from you."

"Not if I get their first." Rika grumbled.

"Knowing your luck T.K. will probably beat you all to the punch." Tai laughed.

"T.K. will have to do it without me." Patamon thrust his head into the air.

"Come on, Patamon. When are you going to let that go?"

"How about the twelfth of never, T.K."

"You can't be mad at me forever Patamon. How are you ever supposed to get to ultimate if you're angry at me all the time?"

"Izzy, you've been really quiet today, what's up?" Tai inquired.

"I'm worried."

"Worried about what?" Rika interjected.

"Devimon."

"Why would you be worried about Devimon, MetalGreymon destroyed him." Tentomon stated.

"Yeah, he can't cause any more trouble," Tai doused Izzy's concerns, "MetalGreymon blew him into digital dust. There's no way he can come back from that."

"Well that's not entirely true." Koromon opposed his partner.

"Why is that Koromon?" Kari asked the in-training.

"Technically Koromon's right," Tentomon began, "Digimon are reconfigued into digi-eggs after we die. So one would assume that the same thing happened to Devimon after MetalGreymon destroyed him."

"But ever since Devimon showed up on File Island, digimon haven't been coming back as digi-eggs, so there's probably nothing to worry about." Salamon added.

"So digimon just... come back?" Eric inquired.

"They used to, before Devimon. We figure their data is just floating around somewhere, waiting for the world to restore it's balance."

"Wouldn't that mean that Devimon could come back too, one day?" asked T.K.

"Technically," Salamon answered, "But Elecmon told us that all of the dark digimon are purified when they're destroyed, so Devimon would probably come back as a nice Angemon or Piddomon."

"Piddomon?"

"It's another angel digimon, would you rather me digivolve into him T.K.?" Patamon asked angrily.

"That's not what I meant when I said it wasn't true." Koromon interrupted the tangent.

"Then what did you mean little guy?" Tai asked.

"I mean when I was connected with Devimon, I learned that the reason no eggs were forming was because Devimon was consuming the fallen digimon's digi-cores so he could digivolve to Myotismon."

"We heard Devimon talking about digi-cores when he was about to execute us," Eric responded, "What are they?"

"Digi-Cores are what makes a digimon alive," Salamon responded, "When a digimon dies all of it's data fades away but it's digi-core becomes a digi-egg."

"So if Devimon isn't around anymore to consume the digi-cores," Kari commented, "Then all of the defeated digimon should be reborn as digi-eggs now, right?"

"Including Devimon." Izzy said solemnly.

"But it's nothing to worry about remember?" Patamon objected to the groups solemn mood. "Digimon are purified when they die so Devimon wouldn't be evil anymore."

"If they're purged of all of the evil data, then where does it go?" Izzy asked the angel-bird.

"The evil data?" Patamon asked. Izzy nodded. "I... I don't know."

"Where does any data go when it's deleted?" Eric asked.

"Where?" Tai responded.

"I was asking, not stating."

"Back into the system." Izzy replied. "It flows back into the digital world to be used for another purpose."

"Just like energy does in the human world." Eric replied. "Except energy is converted to heat when it leaves the human body, I don't think we'd be lucky enough for data to do something similar."

"Why would that be good?" Kari asked.

"When energy is converted to heat, it can't be converted to another form of energy, it's stuck that way. If data were the same way, then the dark data that Devimon was made of would be doomed to wonder around the universe forever with no purpose."

"Is that something you learned from your biology class?" Rika asked sarcastically.

"Yes it is, is there something wrong with that?" He replied.

"So what you're saying is that Devimon's dark data could flow into some other digimon?" Tai refocused the subject.

"Exactly." Izzy replied.

"So some new evil force could just pop up out of nowhere, and we'd have absolutely no idea who it was or what it wanted?"

"Unfortunately." Eric replied.

"There's also the problem that Devimon's evil data could flow into an ultimate, and then he would be almost impossible to beat." Izzy added.

"Or a mega." Tentomon added, prompting stares from the humans in the group.

"A me-what?" Eric stared at his insect partner.

"A mega. You know, a mega level digimon, comes after ultimate. Am I ringing any bells here?"

"No one ever told us about mega level digimon, Tentomon."

"Really? Oh, my bad."

"Your bad?" Eric growled in a fury. "There's another level of digimon beyond even ultimate and you just completely forgot to tell us, and all you can say is 'my bad'?"

"Well it's not like anyone ever asked."

"It still would have been really useful information Tentomon!" Eric yelled in a fury. "So how are you supposed to get to this mega level?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" Eric growled angrily.

"You've got some anger issues bud." Izzy commented to the angry tamer.

"I've noticed!"

"Well this just opens up a hole new can of worms, doesn't it." Tai mumbled. "Koromon, can you digivolve to mega level?"

"I hope so." The tiny digimon replied.

"I wonder if the enemy tamers have the ability to digivolve their partners to mega?" Kari proposed, prompting a groan from the rest of the group.

"So not only do we have to worry about finding our crests and digivolving our partners to ultimate before the evil tamers do, but we also have to worry about getting to another new level before they do, and worry about where Devimon's evil data is going to go?" Rika groaned.

"Oh, this is gonna be hell." Eric dropped to the ground in frustration. A small beam of light appeared in the ground next to him suddenly and spit a small stone into his hands. "Hello there." He said in surprise.

"What is it?" T.K. asked.

"Well check that out, I think it's a crest." Eric replied, staring at the tablet, engraved with a series of parentheses, their upper halves all centered around a single point and their lower tails radiating outwards.

"Are you serious?" Rika asked, trying to snatch the small stone from his hands.

"Hey- back off!" Eric jerked away, "Look but don't touch." Eric held the small stone in between his thumb and index finger, revealing it to the group.

"It sure looks like one, but where's the rest of it?" Izzy questioned. The lot of them gazed at Eric's crest, then took a glance at Tai's, which also contained a six sided pendant and chain surrounding the symbol, then back to Eric's, just a small stone tablet with a partially glowing symbol.

"Huh."

***

"You know, for an extra stock I'll throw in the cart too, so you don't have to carry around all of that junk." Mekanorimon held out his metallic hand to the yellow fox standing in front of him.

"Fine." Renamon slipped a small brown pouch from her arm glove and snatched a relatively small yellow coin, handing it to the Mekanorimon.

"Thank you." Mekanorimon swiped the coin from Renamon's palm and made his way back to his shop. Renamon grasped the bars of the large wheeled platform and began dragging the supplies she had just purchased towards the bazaar gate. She passed a mass of digimon struggling to get past her and the packages of food and water, and pulled the metal cart next to the wall near the gate, away from the crowds. She then leaned next to the wall and began tapping her foot.

"Terriermon, hurry up."

***

"So you really saw where they went!" Terriermon said excitedly to the computer digimon before him.

"Of course." The Datamon replied.

"So where are they?"

"Well," Datamon lifted himself up onto his counter. "It's going to cost you."

"Cost me what?"

"I don't know, but info doesn't come cheap. You got to buy something before I'll tell you anything."

"Well..." Terriermon sighed, and began looking at the merchandise surrounding Datamon.

"Tell you what. I found one of them trying to hide this." He pulled a small wooden box from under the counter. "I'll sell it and the info for a mutual." Datamon opened the box and showed it's contents to Terriermon.

"No..."

***

Renamon leaned her head against the wall, waiting impatiently for Terriermon, who had been gone for well over an hour. She yawned in boredom, and was pleased when she saw Terriermon running towards her.

"It's about time." She said to the speeding bunny-dog.

"Renamon, give me a mutual." Terriermon jumped onto Renamon's head, much to her irritation.

"I don't have any more, I spent all of the mutuals on the food and water." She pointed to the cart of supplies next to her.

"Fine then." Terriermon snatched the wallet from Renamon's hiding place, digging around for some cash.

"Terriermon!"

"Don't' worry I know what I'm doing." Terriermon pulled a fistful of coins from the bag. "Ten stocks, that should do it." He leaped from Renamon's head and ran towards the market entrance.

"Terriermon, that's the rest of the money that Elecmon gave us!" She called to her friend.

"Don't worry, I'll be right back!" He called as he disappeared into the crowd.

"Damn him." Renamon leaned against the wall again, worried about what Terriermon was doing. She drummed her fingers against the wall for ten minutes before Terriermon returned with a small oak box in his hands.

"Is that what you spent the rest of Elecmon's money on?" Renamon asked judgmentally.

"Yup." Terriermon lifted the box to Renamon, flipping it open. "Check out what I found." Renamon stumbled back in surprise.

"I don't believe it."

***

"I'm serious Tai," Rika continued her judgment, "Until we find our crests and whatever happened to the rest of Eric's pathetic crest then you're going to have to step up to the plate with MetalGreymon."

"It's not pathetic," Eric growled, "It's just incomplete. I'll find the rest of it later."

"What's your problem Rika?" Tai questioned the girl.

"My problem is that we're trapped on an island with ultimates and megas and who knows what other levels of digimon roaming around here ready to kill us, and you're the only one who has a chance against them. It bugs me."

"All right, don't worry. I'll take care of everything." Tai replied nervously.

"What am I, chopped liver? I've got a crest too." Eric responded.

"A dead one."

"It's not..." Eric sighed in irritation.

"You all are very illusive." A voice perched above them announced.

"Oh no." Eric rolled his eyes as he stared up at the putrid digimon standing atop the rock that the others were leaning on.

"What is it?" Rika asked as she turned around. "Oh come on!" The five tamers and the three digimon next to them quickly backed away from the rock and joined Eric and Tentomon, who were facing the vengeful champion.

"What do you want Nanimon?" Tai yelled at the champion.

"What I always want: to see you all destroyed for what you've done to our home!"

"For the last time, we're not your enemy!" Tai responded, "We're trying to save this world!"

"And for the last time, I'm tired of your lies- Front and Center!" Nanimon screamed to an unseen force. In response the sand around them began to churn violently.

"Crap..." Eric muttered under his breath as a field of dark spheres launched themselves out of the ground, landing in a circular fashion around the digidestined.

"It's a bunch of Nanimon." Izzy observed.

"Not Nanimon, BomberNanimon." Salamon stated.

"Bomber-" Rika tried to ask in concern but he was cut off.

"I'm not giving you the chance to escape this time, Attack now!" Nanimon screamed to the dark creatures around them.

"Free Throw Bomb!" The Nanimon's tossed a field of explosives towards the group. In response, Eric, Kari, and T.K.'s digivices sent a steam of data swirling around the group. Seconds before the bombs hit, Kabuterimon, Gatomon, and Angemon appeared.

"God Typhoon!" Angemon spun his staff, knocking away a large portion of the bombs.

"Cat Tail!" Gatomon swatted at a portion of the bombs with her tail, knocking them into the explosives behind.

"Electro-Shocker!" Kabuterimon sent a sphere of electricity disarming the explosives.

"Damn, you're always too slow. Attack again!" Nanimon ordered.

"Free Throw Bomb!" The BomberNanimon launched another series of explosions.

"Electro-Shocker!"

"God Typhoon!"

"Cat Tail!" The three digimon deflected another wave of attacks.

"There's too many of them." Angemon observed.

"They're just Nanimon, how can they win?" Eric asked.

"BomberNanimon -Cat Tail!- are a lot stronger than regular Nanimon." Gatomon replied while deflecting another explosive wave.

"But they're also a lot dumber. God Typhoon!" Angemon added.

"Koromon, can't you do anything?" Tai asked his partner as the three guardians sent another wave of defenses against the bombs.

"I'm too tired from when I digivolved to MetalGreymon before."

"But that was yesterday!"

"I'm sorry Tai, digivolving takes a lot out of me."

"I've got an idea." Gatomon stated after blocking another set of attacks. The group was now tightly packed in a circle with Kabuterimon, Angemon, and Gatomon blocking them from all three sides.

"What are you going to do?" Kabuterimon asked. "Electro-Shocker!"

"Keep at it men, they can't keep that shield forever." Nanimon laughed from his rock.

"Free Throw Bomb!" The field of BomberNanimon announced, sending more explosives inwards.

"Just keep doing what you're doing. Cat Tail!" Gatomon leaped away from the circle as soon as the last wave was reflected, dashing towards the Nanimon overseeing the battle beyond him. He didn't notice the lighting fast cat as she leaped from the ground and hovered over the digimon for a split second. He looked up in horror when he saw the digimon's claws reflecting the sunlight as they crashed down on him, severing his fragile champion body. Nanimon stumbled backwards, his data flowing away as Gatomon landed in front of him. She glared at him as he fell to the ground, his body withering away into nothingness. The BomberNanimon ceased their attacks after witnessing the destruction of their leader. They dropped their faces in fear, staring at the feline standing atop the rock, then fled with immeasurable speed, disappearing into the sand.

"Problem solved!" Gatomon smiled as she made her way back to the group.

"That shouldn't have been so easy." Rika stated in disbelief.

"Actually it makes perfect sense, the BomberNanimon aren't very intelligent, so when their leader is destroyed, they become confused and become defensive. They ran away because their leader was destroyed."

"But to destroy Nanimon, after all he's done to us, for him to be destroyed by just the swipe of Gatomon's paw?"

"At least it's over for now." Eric sighed, leaning against the small rock behind him as Tentomon arrived at his side.

"Did you have to destroy him, Gatomon?" Kari asked her partner, who de-digivolved before answering.

"I had no choice Kari, it was the only way to stop the BomberNanimon from attacking." The cat-dog responded.

"Besides, all digimon come back as digi-eggs, so Nanimon will be just fine." Tai reassured his kind hearted sister.

"How long have Renamon and Terriermon been gone?" Rika asked, eying her watch as she returned to her seat before the battle. She was the only one who seemed completely un-phased by the current events. "Two hours, crap." Rika's annoyance was short lived, as a pair of arguing voices soon caught their ear.

"Face it Terriermon, you were fooled." A voice from beyond the rocks said irritatedly to another unseen individual.

"They look so real Renamon!" The second voice protested.

"Terriermon, there aren't any symbols on them. They're completely fake."

"Maybe they just need to held by a tamer. We're almost to the rock, we'll see then." The six tamers and four digimon rounded the large stone to see Renamon dragging a large cart/platform full of large packages. Terriermon was riding along on the cart.

"Hey, you missed the party!" Rika yelled to her partner as the two groups came together.

"What are you talking about?" Renamon asked.

"Didn't you hear all of the explosions just now?" Renamon shook her head.

"How could you not have heard them?"

"It's windy over there." Renamon pointed to the desert they had just crossed.

"It doesn't matter, so what did you get?" Izzy confronted the bunny-dog who was clutching the wooden box he had just purchased.

"I got us enough supplies to last us two weeks, and Terriermon wasted the last of our money on fake crests." Renamon rolled her eyes over to Terriermon.

"We have money?" Tai questioned quietly.

"They're not fake!" Terriermon opposed.

"We had money." Renamon growled.

"What do you mean 'fake crests'?" Izzy asked, pulling the box out of Terriermon's arms.

"They're not fake!" Terriermon opposed again as Izzy popped the small box open, staring at the seven pendants within.

"Check it out." Izzy exposed the contents of the box to the others in the group.

"Huh," Eric walked up and lifted one of the pendants from the box. Then without warning the partial crest in Eric's pocked lifted itself into the air and slit into a clear panel on the face of the pendant. The crest shone brightly for a second, dulling after the combination was complete. "I guess we know what Kazu did with the other half of my crest."

"I told you they weren't fake, Renamon." Terriermon said victoriously.

"All of our crests." Rika stated solemnly. She pulled one of the incomplete pendants from the box and slipped it over her neck. "Kazu split our crests into two pieces so we would have to find both halves."

"It's kind of stupid to keep all of these halves of the crests together." Tai observed.

"The mon I got them from said Kazu was being followed by some digimon, so he had to dump them somewhere to distract those digimon while he escaped." Terriermon told the group as he returned to Izzy's shoulder.

"That's a little too conve-" Izzy's suspicions were cut off as the group heard a mass of digimon yelling in their direction. The twelve turned towards the city to see an army of champions heading across the desert towards their location.

"Looks like someone across the windy desert heard us." Rika said in a panic.

"Where do we go?" Asked Izzy.

"Datamon said Kazu was camped out in a cave in a mountain that the river we passed a few miles ago comes from." Terriermon stated, leaping from his partner's shoulder to the large rock above them, pointing his paw in the direction opposite the city.

"Then that's where we'll go." Tai nudged his head in that direction and started walking at a fast pace with Koromon in his hands. Kari, T.K., Rika, Tentomon, Patamon, Salamon, and Izzy with his partner on his shoulder followed.

"Eric, will you help me drag the cart?" Renamon asked as she grasped the metal steering bar.

"No problem." Eric came to the digimon's side and began shoving the wheels of the platform through the uncooperative sand. "By the way, good leadership Tai." He taunted the boy at the head of the pack.

"Shut up."

***

"Sir, sir!" The BomberNanimon have returned." The rabbit-like Gazimon confronted his master, who was staring at a television screen in the dark hut.

"That was fast, we just sent them out to greet Nanimon yesterday." The monkey replied.

"They returned in a panic sir, apparently the digidestined have destroyed Nanimon." The shrouded figure sighed and grasped his forehead in anger.

"When and where did this happen?" A loud voice behind the yellow monkey asked. Gazimon shot his head up, his eyes now trained on the tusks hovering over him.

"Oh, General, I didn't see you there."

"Answer the question Gazimon." Etemon demanded.

"Yes sir. Uh, the BomberNanimon witnessed Nanimon's destruction just a few hours ago. He decided to attack the group before he recieved confirmation to attack."

"Damn."

"Contact Datamon," The huge mammoth above Etemon demanded, "Have him follow them and report on their status."

"I know, I know." Etemon rolled his eyes at his partner's commanding attitude. "Gazimon, you're dismissed." He announced to the rookie rabbit, who ran off while Etemon opened a program with his keyboard. "Datamon, Datamon, do you copy?"

"Yes sir." The computer cylinder replied.

"Have you accomplished your mission?"

"Yes sir, the children have received the modified tags that I confiscated from their forerunner."

"I still don't think it's a good idea to give them something so powerful, willingly." Mammothmon opposed.

"Relax good friend," Etemon began to reassure the towering creature, "Without the crests, those things are useless to them, and gold for us. Now Datamon," Etemon turned his head to the spy, "I want you to follow them on my command and see where they're going."

"But wasn't Nanimon supposed to destroy them once we discovered their location."

"He attacked prematurely, and was destroyed."

"And those dumb ass Bombers didn't do a thing about it right?"

"They ran."

"Great."

"Now I'm getting four clear signals heading towards Data Stream River-"

"Four?"

"Yes, four, why?"

"I gave them five tags."

"Five!" Etemon shot upwards from his seat, gripping his desk in anger.

"Looks like they found one of their crests, Etemon." Mammothmon said in a victorious yet sarcastic voice.

"I know, stop pointing out the obvious." Etemon growled at the general behind him.

"Etemon, allow me to confront the digidestined and confiscate the tag and crest before they can use it to their advantage."

"Do you think you can stop them without forcing an ultimate evolution?" He asked the computerized soldier.

"I can guarantee it. I'll grab the crest first and then start attacking. They won't have a chance against me."

"All right then, be careful." Etemon turned off the web cam. "Damn it."

"What?" Mammothmon asked as he stepped over Etemon, towards the exit. "You don't trust Datamon?"

"He doesn't exactly have the best track record for successes."

"So what do you want to do?"

"I think we should grab the BomberNanimon and head down Data Stream, just in case Datamon screws up."

"I agree."

***

For anyone who might be annoyed for me using Etemon, don't worry for he won't be here long. But he will be used later in the series for a purpose different than in the original show.


	16. Viral Override, the Beginning

Bit Defender is a real product that protects computers from viruses. I used it merely because I do not know of any other anti-virus programs. It is not my product and can be found legally on line for a very reasonable price. (I'm afraid of being sued, very bad time for that to happen in this economy) You'll see why I say this later. Also, I know Kari has gotten barely any face time, but she is scheduled for a comback very soon so, there. Nothing more to really add to that. Here's my next chapter, it was originally meant to include the next climax of my story, but it got too long, so I'm saving that for my next chapter. You can guess what the next chapter will be titled.

**Chapter Sixteen: Viral Override, the Beginning**

Datamon dragged himself through the path under the desert sand left by one of the BomberNanimon. He had been trailing the group of tamers for days, waiting for his chance to strike. He lifted his head out of the sand for the third time in the past hour, to make sure that he was still on their trail. His prolonged search was due in part to two factors: he had a hard time retaining his stealthy position in the sand, which was not compatible with his computerized body and was the main reason the BomberNanimon had been assigned to destroying them in the first place, and he had yet to discover which destined held the crest that had deactivated the tracking mechanism he had placed in the tag. He was also wary due to the fact that there was one more digidestined than the amount of tags he had given the Terriermon, and this concerned him greatly.

"Why won't you turn around?" Datamon growled, quickly realizing that the wind had died down and that the digidestined could probably hear his statement. He ducked his head under the sand so that only a part of one of his eyes revealed itself above the desert floor. He barely escaped under the sand before the human and digimon at the back of the group, shoving a cart of supplies through the tough terrain, turned around. The two stared around the area they had just trekked for a few seconds before turning back around and continuing their struggle through the desert. Datamon pulled himself fully under the sandy floor, smiling at the site he had just witnessed. "Stupid bastards."

***

"Damn it, this sand is annoying," Eric moaned as he continued his shove through the desert, Rika's partner by his side. "You'd think that the digital world would have roads or something for cases just like this."

"You would think." Renamon responded in between heavy breaths.

"Isn't there grass over near the river?" Eric nodded over to the river half a mile to their left. "Wouldn't it be easier to shove this thing over solid ground?"

"We can't take the chance that someone will see us over there!" Tai yelled from the front of the group.

"Shove this thing across this damn sand for half a day and then say that!" Eric yelled back.

"Just hurry up loser, you too Renamon!" Rika yelled back to the two clutching the wheeled platform of supplies.

"You all seem to have developed quite a repartee." Renamon commented.

"Oh, you mean where me and Rika yell at each other, then Tai interjects and Rika starts yelling at Tai. Then Izzy brings up some depressing subject, which makes T.K. and Kari say something equally depressing. That repartee?"

"That would be the one." Renamon laughed. She then stopped, turning her head to the desert behind them.

"What is it?"

"I thought I heard something." Renamon replied as Eric turned his head to Renamon's field of vision.

"I don't hear anything."

"I could have sworn I heard something out there. Maybe it was nothing, let's just get going." Renamon turned around and continued on, Eric following her lead.

"What's taking you so long?" Tentomon asked, having been sent to check on the two stragglers by the rest of the group.

"Maybe if we had a little help, Tentomon, we wouldn't be taking so long." Eric growled. "I'll bet Kabuterimon could easily carry this thing."

"He's too big of a target." Tentomon smiled.

"Yeah, I'm sure-Ah!" Eric was thrown from the earth, crashing into the desert sand ten feet away. Above him, a gray blur had snatched the crest hanging around his neck and slipped it over his head, landing a few feet away from Eric.

"Diamond Storm!"

"Super Shocker!" Tentomon and Renamon came to the boy's defense, attacking the thief, who quickly dodged the attacks and landed halfway between Eric, Tentomon, and Renamon, and the main group.

"Hey, that's Datamon!" Terriermon yelled in anger as the two groups came together.

"That's right," Datamon said with a smile, "It's cute how easy you were to fool."

"He must be partnered with Nanimon." Tai observed.

"How did you find us?" Rika asked angrily. Datamon laughed in reply.

"Are you all really that stupid?" He added.

"Our crests," Izzy observed, glancing down at the incomplete digivolution device hanging from his neck.

"Actually," Datamon leaped away from the group, staring them down from a few yards away, "They're called tags, you dimwits." He whispered the insult.

"And he took mine." Eric growled. "Get him Tentomon." Tentomon moved forward.

"Wait!" Terriermon protested, "I'm the one he pulled a fast one on, let me handle him." Terriermon leaped from Izzy's shoulder, who nodded as his digivice activated, sending a data stream of power swirling around Terriermon. **"Terriermon digivolve to..."** Gargomon burst from the light half a second later, landing a few feet in front of Datamon.

"A Gargomon, huh?" Datamon smiled. "How perfect." He quickly dove under the desert sand, hiding himself from the loaded bunny-dog.

"Where'd he go?" Gargomon asked, spinning around to observe from all sides.

"Tentomon get ready, just in case." Tentomon rose himself into the air as his partner gripped his digivice.

**"Tentomon digivolve to... Kabuterimon!" **The large blue beetle hovered over the group, watching along with Gargomon for the spy.

"Where is he?" Kabuterimon mumbled. Datamon soon replied, leaping out of the ground and landing on Gargomon's head.

"Hey! Get off of me!" Gargomon tried to toss the computer off of his shoulders, but was unsuccessful, as Datamon had plugged his cord-like fingers into Gargomon's Gatling guns. "What did you do?" He yelled angrily, but Datamon soon demonstrated his intentions.

"Get off of him!" Izzy yelled as Gargomon turned towards them, raising his weapons. "Gargomon, what are you doing?" Izzy stared in horror at the smiling face of Datamon in contrast to the now emotionless one of Gargomon.

"This doesn't look good." Tai stated as the group stumbled backwards.

"Gargo Laser!" Datamon yelled as Gargomon's lasers started firing almost uncontrollably. The group tried to run away, but Kabuterimon landed in front of the children, blocking the lasers with his arm.

"Datamon's controlling Gargomon!" Rika stated as they moved away while Kabuterimon confronted Gargomon.

"But how?" T.K. asked.

"He must be able to control any digimon that's inorganic!" Eric stated as Gargomon fired another round of lasers at Kabuterimon, who blocked the attack.

"But Gargomon's a rabbit-" Kari began to protest.

"His weapons aren't." Izzy stated in horror. "You have to get him out of there." On the other side of Kabuterimon, Datamon had ceased his attack.

"Let go of my friend!" Kabuterimon yelled, standing high in the air.

"I don't think so." Datamon said in a low voice. "Bunny Pummel!" Datamon thrust his hands upward, sending Gargomon rushing towards Kabuterimon, who crossed his arms to defend. Datamon then pulled his hands to the left, telling Gargomon to jump to the left unexpectedly and run towards the group of digidestined.

"No!" Kabuterimon leaped to his right, blocking Datamon from the group and sending Gargomon crashing into the insect's chest.

"Don't hurt him Kabuterimon!" Izzy protested.

"We don't have to," Eric stated, "If we can attack Datamon and knock him out, then he'll probably let go of Gargomon."

"How do we do that?" Kari questioned as Gargomon and Kabuterimon entered a close range fist fight.

"Kabuterimon will distract him from the front while someone else strikes Datamon's back."

"I can do it!" Koromon announced, leaping from Tai's arms towards the battle.

"Are you sure Koromon?" Tai questioned his partner, who nodded. Tai's digivice activated, sending a data stream towards Koromon.

**"Koromon, warp digivolve to... Greymon!"** The two story dinosaur crashed into the sand, sending a shock wave in all directions. Datamon broke his fight with Kabuterimon and had Gargomon leap away from the insect so that he could face both digimon.

"Crap." He stated as Gargomon backed away from the two champions.

"I'll take care of Datamon, you just hold off Gargomon's attacks, Kabuterimon." Greymon instructed the other digimon as he ran to flank the Datamon.

"No problem." Kabuterimon flew into the air, staring Datamon and Gargomon down. "I'm sorry about this, Gargomon." Kabuterimon pulled his arms inwards.

"I don't think so!" Datamon yelled, pulling Gargomon's arms up while keeping an eye on the Greymon to his left. "Gargo Lasers!" The green bursts of energy rushed towards Kabuterimon, who fought back by sending an electro-shocker at Gargomon.

"Nova Blast!" Greymon fully positioned himself behind Gargomon, firing his flaming sphere at Datamon's back. Datamon was ready for this, however. He pulled Gargomon's left arm backward, retracing the fire towards Greymon's attack. Greymon and Kabuterimon both dodged as Gargomon's super charged lasers dissipated their attacks easily. While Datamon was preoccupied with Greymon, Kabuterimon made his move.

"Electro-Shocker!" Kabuterimon's lighted sphere zoomed towards Datamon, who in response forced Gargomon to twist around so that Datamon's back was facing the attack. "What the-?" Kabuterimon was taken aback as the electric attack slammed into Datamon. Datamon screamed in what they at first thought was pain, but then realized that he was satisfied with the attack. The electricity soon faded away, leaving a smirking Datamon in its wake.

"Thank you," Datamon said evilly, "now attack!" Gargomon swirled around and unleashed another string of laser blasts at Kabuterimon. The bug tried to defend, but Gargomon was too quick for him this time. Gargomon's attack slammed into Kabuterimon's chest, knocking him into the ground (and the team's supply cart) one final time.

"Kabuterimon!" Eric pulled towards his partner, but Rika grasped his arm.

"I've got this," She turned to her partner, "Renamon!" Renamon dashed away from the group towards the Gargomon/Datamon machine.

**"Renamon digivolve to..."** Renamon entered as spin as light from Rika's digivice consumed her. **"Kyubimon!"** Kyubimon entered a rolling spiral towards Gargomon, who was running towards the fallen Kabuterimon at the moment with Greymon at his heels. "Dragon Wheel!" Kyubimon's body was covered in flames, eventually giving rise to a flaming dragon that flew from Kyubimon's body and threw itself towards Gargomon.

"Nice try," Datamon forced Gargomon to twist around, having the bunny-dog's arm smash into the flame. Gargomon then leaped through the neutralized attack and crunched his metal hand into Kyubimon, who was knocked back towards Kabuterimon.

"Kyubimon, no!" Rika then shoved Eric out of his way, running to her partner.

"They need your help Salamon." Kari looked to her partner.

"Yours too, Patamon." T.K. nodded to the angel-bird. They both agreed. They ran towards the battle, light from T.K. and Kari's digivices swirling around them. Angemon and Gatomon emerged from the light and dashed or flew towards Gargomon. Datamon responded, pivoting around to face the angel and feline heading towards him.

"Lighting Paw!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Gargo Laser!" Gargomon's machine guns swirled to life, gaining speed before rapidly blasting green energy beams at Angemon and Gatomon, who were forced to dodge.

"Kyubimon!" Rika came to her partner's aid, supporting the digimon's head as she struggled to pick herself up. Eric ran past her to check on Tentomon.

"Rika... he's too strong to be... a champion." Kyubimon said in breaths.

"What?"

"He must be... an ultimate..." Renamon dropped her head after de-digivolving.

"Oh no."

"Nova Blast!" Greymon caught up to the new battlefield, launching his fiery breath at the Datamon parasite.

"Get him Greymon!" Tai cheered to his partner.

"Hey, try not to hurt Gargomon, okay!" Izzy protested.

"We're not going to do any serious harm to Gargomon, Izzy, but you have to trust us and let us do our thing." Gargomon in the meantime dropped his fist into Greymon's snout, knocking him into the ground.

"Hand of Fate!" Angemon blasted at Datamon, who quickly pulled Gargomon's arms over Datamon, successfully blocking the attack.

"Guys," Rika called to the others, "Kyubimon says that Datamon is an ultimate, not a champion!"

"That explains a lot," Greymon commented as he lifted himself off of the ground. "Nova Blast!" Datamon easily knocked the attack away.

"Greymon, do you think you have the energy?" Tai screamed to his partner, as his crest glowed a bright red.

"I'm ready Tai!" Greymon responded as Gargomon twisted around to face Greymon. Immediately Tai's digivice and crest send beams of energy towards Greymon, combining as a double helix before streaming into Greymon's chest.

"No!" Datamon protested, but it was too late. Greymon shined a bright orange-white light, regaining his metal armor and decayed wings.

**"MetalGreymon!"** The dramon lifted himself into the air, staring against the Datamon on Gargomon's back. "Let my friend go!" He commanded.

"And get rid of my only leverage?" Datamon said in disbelief as the feline champion stalked behind him, "You must be stupid-"

"Lighting Paw!" Gatomon swiped the cords connected to Gargomon, separating Datamon from the digital monster's back. Datamon flew backwards, diving into the sand to avoid further confrontation. Gargomon, on the other hand, fell forwards, de-digivolving to Terriermon, who was caught by Gatomon. "Let's get you out of here." Gatomon turned around and dashed towards Tai, Izzy, Kari, and T.K.

"That's a good idea," Terriermon said half conciously.

"Can you help me find him Angemon?" MetalGreymon asked the angelic digimon hovering across from him.

"Of course." Angemon stated as he scanned the desert floor, which had begun to swirl around as the wind had picked up. He soon noticed a bulge appear suddenly in the earth, then disappear. "There!" Angemon dove into the earth, plunging his hand a few feet of where the bulge used to be. He then pulled the Datamon from the ground, who retaliated by jerking away, pointing his fingers at Angemon.

"Nano Bomb!" Dozens of miniature explosives steamed from Datamon's fingers, crashing into Angemon's chest. The angel screeched in pain as he was thrown towards the ground. T.K. grasped the digimon just as he de-digivolved, preventing him from collapsing onto the ground.

"That wasn't very NICE!" MetalGreymon stated as he swung his heavy metal arm at Datamon, who didn't have the leverage to dodge the attack. MetalGreymon's claws dug into Datamon's relatively tiny body, throwing him into the sand. "Giga Blaster!" MetalGreymon's metal chest panel opened, firing two fish-dragon missiles at Datamon, incinerating the digimon partially. The computer pulled himself from the ground momentarily to oppose the dinosaur.

"You're not as tough as you think," He stated, lifting his arms, "Nano-" Datamon tried to send another round of attacks off, but was slammed in the face by MetalGreymon's metal claw, knocking the digimon sprawling back into the ground. As Datamon tried to pull his limp arms and legs back in, he stared at MetalGreymon for one less act of opposition. "I've been a champion for a lot longer than you... I'm stornger... and smarter... than you."

"And if we've ever at a computer convention," MetalGreymon rose his organic fist, "Then I'll be sure to concede defeat!" MetalGreymon plowed his fist into Datamon's chest, knocking the digimon out. "One more time," MetalGreymon now rose his metal fist. "Mega-"

"No!" Tai rushed towards the two ultimates. "He's had enough, MetalGreymon."

"But Tai-"

"He's not going to attack us anymore, so there's no reason to destroy him."

"No reason?" Rika objected as she walked forward, supporting Renamon as she did so. "How about the fact that once he recovers he'll try to destroy us again?"

"But he's not a threat right now, he can't do any real damage."

"Then what do you suggest we do with him?"

"I've got an idea." Eric interjected as he walked forward with Tentomon on his back.

***

Datamon's eyes fluttered open as a massive digital headache rushed into his cerebrum. Datamon tried to grip his head in pain, but discovered that he could not move his arms. His vision, still blurred from his previous unconscious state, couldn't detect the source of his limb containment. As the virtual ringing in his ears subsided, however, he began to make out a series of voices around him. He blinked violently to repair his eye sight, finally making out a spiky headed figure ahead of him. As his focus returned, he could make out a pair of goggles on the boy's jet black hair, who was dressed in a blue shirt, shorts, and white gloves.

"Who are you?" Datamon asked as his vision and hearing fully regained themselves. He then twisted around to discover the fate of his arms, which were bound to a tree he had been strapped to. He swore under his breath, then turned back to the twelve figures in front of him. As he discovered the shapes and sizes of those around him, he finally realized where he was and what had just happened.

"Oh shit."

"Oh shit is right!" The girl with red hair stretched back into a pony tail growled. The tall, yellow fox Renamon by her side nodded in agreement.

"Language, Rika." The messy haired boy in a grey shirt, blue jeans and black boots warned the girl a few feet away from her.

"Don't start with me." She snapped.

"So what do you all want?" The Datamon growled at the six children and digimon in front of him. "Did you decide not to kill me so you could interrogate me, discover my secrets? Well it is _not_ going to happen!"

"We're not going to do anything to you," The goggle headed boy Tai at the front of the group responded, "We just tied you up so you would stop attacking us."

"Do you really think I'm that stupid? I know what you monsters do to digimon you capture, but this tree won't hold me for long!"

"Don't be too sure about that." The red vested boy with spiky red hair and the green-white bunny-dog Terriermon on his shoulder to Datamon's right protested. "If you'll see..." Izzy tapped the computer in his lap, which was connected to a cable that Datamon followed with his eyes until he discovered its other end connected to his own chest.

"What did you do to me!" Datamon screamed, struggling to escape the binds.

"I'm just using the power that you would be recharging yourself with to re-power my computer battery." Izzy stated with a smile.

"Well that's a big mistake," Datamon laughed. A few lights in his cerebrum (which was visible due to the clear oval casing around it) suddenly flashed, and a surge of activity could be heard shooting through the wire connected to Izzy's computer.

"Na ah, Bit Defender." Izzy tapped his computer again, indicating Datamon's fruitless attempt to destroy Izzy's laptop from within.

"I hate you people." Datamon responded, dropping his head in defeat.

"The feeling's mutual, believe me." Rika growled behind Tai, who objected to Rika's cruelty with an angry stare.

"We don't hate you Datamon," Tai addressed the digimon in front of him, turning his attention back to the computer, "But you attacked us, and we were forced to defend ourselves."

"You attacked our world first!" Datamon's voice filled with fury.

"I don't know how many times we have to tell you, we didn't attack anybody!" Rika stormed in front of Tai.

"Rika-" The makeshift leader tried to oppose.

"No Tai, I'm sick of these digimon attacking us constantly just because of a stupid grudge. We didn't attack you. Another group of children did!" We were brought here to STOP them! In fact, we destroyed Devimon a few days ago!" Rika was inches from Datamon's face.

"It's just a pack of lies!" Datamon yelled in return. "If you destroyed Devimon, then why haven't we heard anything from Meramon or the other inhabitants of File Island, and why are you even on Server?"

"Because Meramon's trying to help the citizens of File Island recover from all the damage that Devimon did," Tai pulled Rika out of the way, who sighed angrily before returning to the group of digimon and humans behind Tai, "And the children that Devimon corrupted are here, on Server. We came to the continent to free them from the dark needles that Devimon infected them with so the threat will be eliminated permanently."

"You're lying," Datamon replied in a broken voice.

"I have no reason to." Tai stared back with a face not of resentment or anger, but one of determination. Datamon gasped at the boy's resolve. "But it doesn't matter what you think. We're not going to destroy you. We're going to get some food and water from this river since you destroyed our supplies when you attacked Kabuterimon and then we're going to leave you here. Once we're far away, your energy will have returned and you can go to your boss or whoever you and Nanimon are/were allied with and tell him whatever you want. But I'm fed up with trying to convince you and your friends that we're not here to destroy your world, so from now on if any of you attack us again, I"m not going to have MetalGreymon hold back." Tai stood up and pointed a thumb at the Agumon by his side, who huffed in agreement.

"Come on, let's try and get something to eat." Tai walked towards the river, the others following. Only Izzy and Terriermon stayed behind to moniter the computer attached to Datamon, but kept a far distance from him, placing themselves as close to the river as possible, which was about ten feet away from the tree that Datamon was strapped to.

Datamon watched as the five children and digimon formed makeshift fishing rods and bowls out of the trees around them. The group was fortunate enough to stumble upon a small oasis, which had all the supplies to get them through the night, which was approaching quickly.

"It gets really cold in the desert at night Tai," Eric warned the goggled leader, "Where are we supposed to stay tonight?"

"We can make some huts out of these trees," T.K. suggested, "If we make a fire, then the makeshift walls will hold in the heat."

"Where'd you learn that T.K.?" Eric asked the boy.

"Me and my brother went to a boyscout camp, if you can call it the boy scouts. That place was tough, more like army training than anything else." Kari, who was by the young boy's side making bowls to scoop up water, laughed at the boy's half-joke.

"What about Datamon?" Rika asked as she sat at the shore of the river, casting her line into the waters. Tai and Eric both shrugged as they worked on their fishing lines.

"Can't Izzy's computer keep him weak until we leave tomorrow?" Asked Kari.

"Eventually the battery will be fully charged and will stop absorbing Datamon's power." Eric replied.

"I can reroute the battery power into the ground with another line," Izzy suddenly interjected, "So my computer will continue to pull Datamon's power. He won't go anywhere.

"And just in case us digimon can take turns watching him throughout the night." Renamon added from her resting place on a tree top.

"You all don't have to take all of the responsibility," Tai objected, "Some of us can watch too."

"Don't worry Tai," Agumon responded. "Between the six of us, we can all keep an eye on Datamon without losing barely any sleep."

Datamon watched the twelve have their conversation, his head wracked with thoughts. Could these children really be the heroes they claimed to be? How could he trust them, when he had seen first hand the damage they could do. Horrible thoughts returned to his head, his days as a BlackToyAgumon returning to him. He remembered seeing the evil digidestined when they first arrived at the island. He was a Mekanorimon fleeing to Server after his friends had all been destroyed by the wrath of Devimon. He didn't remember them looking exactly like they did now, but he didn't have the computing power he had now back when he first saw them, so he couldn't be sure.

The biggest question that plagued him, however, was their claim that they had destroyed Devimon. How could he possibly believe that. Devimon, the tyrant of File Island, who enslaved hundreds of innocent digimon, and destroyed every attempt of salvation with his dark needles, black gears, and that horrifying dark beacon. He looked across the digimon in their party. A Kyubimon, a Kabuterimon, a Gargomon, and a Gatomon combined wouldn't stand a chance against the evil that was Devimon. The champion Angemon might be able to handle him in his suppressed form, but the Devimon at max capacity that the citizens of File Island had grown to fear for the first six months of his reign would easily crush the angel. Then there was MetalGreymon. Sure he was an ultimate, but could he really have stood up to Devimon, with all of his ever increasing power? Datamon dropped his head once again, this time in confusion. A long night awaited him.


	17. Viral Override, the Follow Through

**Chapter Seventeen: Viral Override, the Follow Through **

"Izzy, wake up." Tai shook the sleeping tamer awake, who was passed out next to Terriermon and his computer. Izzy lifted himself off of the wooden plank he had fallen asleep on, twisting his head around to take in his surroundings. He could barely tell that it was just before dawn, the makings of a sunrise clear in the eastern desert sky.

"Thanks Tai..." Izzy said groggily, standing up with difficulty. He walked over to the river to wash his face.

"Izzy, hurry up and get ready, everyone's waiting at the edge of the oasis." Tai told him as he walked awy.

"I'll be right there." Izzy waved at him, then dipping his hands into the cold night water and splashing his face to wake himself up. He then departed from the river, walking back to the wooden wall and the doused fire that housed Terriermon and Izzy's laptop. He awoke his partner, who protested greatly to being awoken so early. Izzy lifted the bunny-dog and placed him on his shoulder, where Terriermon quickly fell back asleep, his ear wrapped around Izzy's neck for support. Izzy laughed quietly, turning to his laptop, which was propped on the same wooden board that he had spent an awful night's sleep on. His eyes traced the cord extending from one of the ports on the side of the computer to the ultimate strapped to the tree three feet away.

"Okay, here it goes." Izzy walked slowly towards Datamon, extending his arm towards him. His arm quivered as it came closer to the digimon's body, until he finally wrapped his fingers around the cord. He pulled at it carefully, wary of waking the digimon. As he slipped the plug out, the Datamon suddenly sighed, startling Izzy and forcing him to stumble backwards. Izzy held his breath, staring at the computer for a minute before determining that he had not awakened. Izzy wrapped up the cord in his hands and placed it back in his computer case. He then turned off his computer and slipped it back into its sleeve. Afterwards he quickly fled the prison.

"Hey guys!" Izzy whispered loudly as he ran towards the other five tamers, "Why did you make me do that by myself?"

"Do what?" Tai responded.

"Take out the cord that was attached to Datamon, that's what!"

"Oh, I forgot all about that," Tai laughed.

"Whatever, can we just go?" Rika growled.

"What's your problem?"

"I'm cold, that's what." She responded as she shivered.

"Rika's right Tai, it's too cold to just stand around." Kari agreed with the other girl.

"It's going to be the same temperature wherever we go for a while, so we might as well collect our bearings."

"We'll get warmer as we move Tai," Eric corrected him, "We'll warm up as our bodies use energy and convert it into body heat." Rika thought about sighing in response, but since he was advocating for movement, she decided against it.

"Exactly, so let's go!" Kari whispered, grasping Tai's hand and pulling him towards the desert.

"Yeah, hurry up." Rika and Renamon headed out down the river path. The others decided to follow.

"Do we have any idea where we are going?" Izzy asked, shivering.

"What did Terriermon say about it?" Eric asked.

"The evil tamers are hiding in a mountain up river..." Terriermon responded, waking up for a second to reply to them and then falling back asleep.

"Didn't Datamon give him that information though?" Agumon observed.

"Yeah, it's not the most reliable information." Patamon added.

"All the same, if we keep headed up river, we're bound to find another village where we have a better chance at finding some more reliable information." Renamon finished.

"As long as we're moving." Rika agreed.

***

Datamon lifted his head, groggy from the night strapped to a tree. He quickly realized that his strength had returned, and easily snapped the ropes binding him to the trunk. He stumbled into the open desert, shielding his eyes from the bright sun.

"Why... didn't they kill me?" Datamon stuttered as he walked forward, not heading anywhere in particular. "Could what they sad actually be true? To destroy Devimon, is it even possible? No, it can't be true! Devimon's just too powerful for that group of children to defeat him!" Datamon gripped his head in agony. "But if they're telling the truth..."

***

"Mammothmon, give me a ride, will ya?" Etemon questioned the mammalian giant beside him.

"Not on your life," The Mammothmon boomed, "I'm not a frikin' camel."

"C'mon, my feet hurt."

"So do mine, deal with it."

"Our feet hurt too!" The field of BomberNanimon behind the two generals complained.

"Do I look like I give a damn?" Mammothmon yelled to the digimon at his rear.

"No sir!" They replied. Etemon and the Nanimon army quickly gave up trying to procure a ride, and continued their march down the desert river path. They continued in silence for a few minutes, before Etemon brought up another subject.

"Devimon's probably with them." The orange monkey said solemnly.

"How do you figure that?" The furry giantt replied.

"Well he wasn't with the other group of children."

"That doesn't mean he's with this new group."

"But the first team of tamers that came hear all have the ability to digivolve to ultimate. The second set to arrive hear doesn't have that ability. Why would Devimon send his men onto a continent of ultimates and megas if they could only digivolve to champion. He would have to accompany them if they were to have any chance of surviving here."

"When was the last time you saw a mega, Etemon?"

"Mammothmon!" Etemon gave him an annoyed look.

"You're right, I see your point. Still, they could just be trying to meet up with their allies. Besides, your information is coming from the BomberNanimon. The dumb shits aren't the most reliable source of information." Mammothmon pointed his trunk at the army behind them. "Watch; Bombers! Did you see Devimon when Nanimon ordered you to attack the digidestined?"

The BomberNanimon mumbled to each other for a few minutes, then gave a simultaneou reply. "We have no idea Sir!"

"See."

"I see your point, there's nothing to worry about." Etemon grumbled.

"I didn't say that," Mammothmon opposed, "I'm sure we'll have plenty of problems to deal with when we get there."

"I know." Etemon glared towards the desert, contemplating the battle to come.

***

"Damnit!" Rika tossed her makeshift fishing rod aside, slamming her fist into the ground. She then stood up and departed from the river bank, leaving the others in a daze.

"What's her problem?" Tai asked.

"She's just not a good fisherman." Eric responded as they watched her storm off away from the small oasis. Her tantrum continued when she began her assault on a pine tree a few yards from the riverbank. She tossed a few punches at the tree, then realizing that the wood was stronger than her hands, gripped her fists into her chest.

"Ow!" She yelled. "Stupid tree!" She kicked the bottom of the organism and stormed off.

"Neither are you." Tai continued.

"Yeah but I can control my temper, sometimes..." Eric responded, stealing a glance at Tentomon. Tai in the meantime continued to watch Rika's tantrum continue into the desert.

"I'd better go check on her." Tai stated standing up.

"Are you sure you want to subject yourself to that?" Eric asked in response.

"Yeah." Tai said half-heartedly, walking towards Rika.

"Suit yourself." He shrugged, returning to the task at hand, but was inhibited by the missing fishing line that was supposed to be at the end of his pole. "What the-?" Eric twisted around, trying to find the source of the disappearance. His eyes quickly fell on Tentomon, who's fishing line was now twice as large is it used to be.

"Tentomon!"

"What?"

"You know what!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, unless you're referring to your talking about me when you think I'm not listening."

"I didn't say a word about you!"

"You implied!"

"I did not!"

"Did too!"

"You want to say that to my face?"

"Yes I do!" Tentomon burst from his seat, dropping his pole and rushing towards Eric.

"Oh oh."

"Super Shocker!" Tentomon gave a small shock to his partner, who flew back partly, landing on the ground in a daze. "Next time don't provoke me." Tentomon began to fly away. Eric then leaped from his spot on the ground, tackling Tentomon and dragging him to the ground. Tentomon struggled to free himself, to no avail.

"You brought this on yourself Tentomon." Eric said from his victorious seat atop Tentomon's shell. "You're just not strong enough to lift me. I used to way 279 pounds, I know how to pin somebody down."

"Show's what you know, and that's an absurd weight for a child your age." Tentomon shoved his talons into the ground, tossing Eric off of his back and into the water.

***

Tai glanced back for a second at the rest of the group, who were all watching as Eric climbed out of the river, screaming at Tentomon, who was laughing uncontrollably. He twisted back to view Rika, who was standing amidst a sea of sand, facing away from the river and small oasis.

"Rika, what's the matter?" Tai asked in a sincere voice.

"What's it to you?" She gave a quiet yet angry reply.

"Come on Rika, you don't have to be like that. We're all friends here."

"Really, because Eric and Tentomon look so chummy back there."

"That's how they are with each other, just tell me what's bothering you. I won't blab, I promise."

"What's bothering me?" Rika twisted around to face Tai. Her eyes were filled with anger and sadness. "What's bothering me is that I'm twelve years old and I already have more responsibility than anyone else I know."

"I know it's tough, but we have to stick it out for our friends that live here; Meramon, Tyrannomon, and Leomon."

"I know-"

"And our partners too. They need our help just as much as we need theirs."

"I know-"

"And what about the other kids who were manipulated by Devimon into becoming evil? They're in a worse situation then the digimon they are terrorizing."

"I know okay!" Rika lashed out at the boy in front of her.

"Then what's the problem?"

"The problem is we've been here for god knows how long, and we're nowhere closer to stopping the evil tamers then we were when we first got here!"

"We defeated Devimon, and it's only been eight days."

"We defeated Devimon, but now we have to deal with Datamon and all of his allies Tai! We destroyed one champion digimon and now we have to deal with an untold amount of ultimates, and we're also going to have to find some way to stop the evil data that came off of Devimon! It's just too much Tai." Rika dropped to her knees in exhaustion. "I can't take all of this." She gripped her head, a massive headache taking over. "Why couldn't someone else have been brought here to deal with this? Someone better qualified, not a load of kids who have no idea what we're doing."

"It's really getting to you, huh?"

"What was your first clue?" Rika said without her usual fire.

"Well then, there's only one thing I can say: get over it."

"What?" Rika lifted her head, staring at Tai in confusion.

"I said, 'get over it'. I don't understand why we're hear either. I don't understand why someone more qualified like some soldiers or policemen weren't chosen for this. What I do no is that there isn't anything we can do right now. We are in another world Rika- a world of monsters and demons that want to destroy us for no good reason. Creatures like Nanimon and Devimon are always going to come after us here, so we have no other choice but to bring piece to this world. You have to suck it up and get back on the warpath, otherwise we are all going to die." His last words struck a cord in Rika. She growled and pulled her head inwards towards her chest.

"Tai... you stupid... goggle head."

"We need you Rika. None of us can survive without you and Renamon there to help us get through the day. Especially T.K. and Kari. They look up to you, and T.K. needs your help to save his brother, so you really have no choice in the matter. Even a stupid goggle head knows that the good of the team comes before the good of oneself."

"I get it okay," Rika stood up, still staring down at the ground, "It is just so much, that's all."

"I wouldn't imagine that someone with a personality as strong as yours could break down like that."

"It takes a lot to keep up this tough exterior." Rika laughed. "You know you make a much better leader than someone would think."

"If you didn't trust my instincts then why did you shove me onto that pedal stool in the first place?"

"It was Eric and Kari's idea."

"They said it was yours."

"They just wanted a scapegoat just in case you screwed up."

"Wow, I'm glad my sister has so much faith in me." He replied with sarcasm.

"Oh Tai," Rika returned to a serious face.

"What's wrong?"

"If you ever tell anyone what just happened," An angry smirk grew across Rika's face, "I'll give you a beating worse than Tentomon's getting right now!" She partially yelled, staring out of the corner of her eye at the battle between Eric and Tentomon, which was now occuring in the shallows of the river. Eric was now shoving Tentomon under the water playfully, and his victory seemed ensured until Tentomon launched another super shocker, knocking Eric off of his feet and creating a layer of fried seafood on the river's surface. T.K. and Kari cheered, now no longer having to continue fishing, and started to scoop the fallen food onto the shore.

"Well I wouldn't want that." Tai replied after watching the riverside activities. "Well, now that that's settled, I guess we should decide our next course of action.

"What happened to finding another town and getting some real directions?"

"I don't' know who we were kidding with that plan. I don't think we have any allies on this continent, and it'll take a miracle to prove to anyone that we're on their side."

"Damn near impossible really." Rika agreed.

"A miracle huh?" A voice to Tai's right stated. The two turned towards the desert and saw a short metal figure standing in the sand. "I don't see a beam of light reaching down towards me, but I guess anything is possible really."

"It's Datamon." Tai stated with fear and anger.

"Renamon!" Rika called to her partner by the river.

"Agumon!" Tai called to the yellow raptor-like dinosaur. Renamon arrived in seconds, while Agumon struggled to cross the desert sand.

"What are you doing here?" Renamon questioned the computer. "You've already proven that you can't defeat us."

"I've proven that I'm not strong enough to defeat MetalGreymon, not you." Datamon crawled forward with his four tubed legs. "And I didn't come here to fight?"

"Then what are you doing here?" Agumon asked, short of breath, as he arrived at the scene. The other eight children and digimon had noticed the commotion as well, and were running over to the five digimon as well.

"I came here to help, believe it or not." Datamon replied.

"We don't." Tai growled.

"Don't try and trick us again," Terriermon stated angrily as the rest of the team arrived at the scene, "We're not going to fall for it this time!"

"Tai, don't give him a chance to attack us again," Eric commanded, "Have MetalGreymon destroy him before he has a chance to fight back."

"Just here me out." Datamon said, waving his arms defensively. "I promise you I'm not here to fight you. I've been thinking about it for a while now, and I believe what you said."

"About what?" Rika snapped at the digimon.

"When you said you weren't under the influence of Devimon, and that you had defeated the demon. I mulled it over in my head all night, and I realize now that what you were telling me was the truth."

"There's no way we can trust you Datamon!" Tai objected. "We-"

"You don't have to blindly trust me!" Datamon defended before Tai could finish. "I'll prove to you that I'm on your side."

"And how are you going to do that?" T.K. asked bravely.

"Listen, there's a building not too far from here that the DBDW use that has food, water, and working facilities. You can refresh there and get some real food, not just fish."

"What's the DBDW?" Tai asked, still angry but with curiosity.

"It's the organization I belong to. I'm a spy for the Digimon for the Betterment of the Digital World. We were formed a year and a half ago on Server. We've been training ever since to build power to defeat Devimon, but you defeated him already! That's why I'm completely willing to put my faith behind you."

"How can we possibly trust you, after all you've done?"

"Those tags I gave you," Datamon pointed at the pendant hanging from Izzy's neck, "They have a tracking chip in them that General Etemon and Mammothmon are using to watch your movements. When we get to the Colosseum I can take them out so Etemon can't track you anymore."

"Why don't you take them out right now." Rika glared at the digimon. "Then we can go to that place without having to worry about anyone following us."

"That's fine too."

"Can we really trust him?" Izzy whispered in Tai and Rika's ear.

"We don't exactly have a lot of options." Tai responded. "If what he's saying is the truth, then a lot more digimon could be on their way to our location to try and destroy us."

"But what if there isn't any tracking chip in them, and Datamon is actually planning to put them in our tags, or crests, or whatever they are?"

"We'll have to watch him really closely." Kari stated loudly, surprising the group. "Here Datamon, I trust you." As she pulled her tag off of her neck, the other destined protested her actions.

"Kari no!" Tai tried to pull her hand back. "You can't-"

"It's okay Tai," She pushed his hand back. "I'll be okay." She walked away from him, towards Datamon, who stared with a redemptive face.

"But-" Tai trailed off, watching his sister carefully.

"I trust you too Datamon." T.K. lifted his tag from his neck, also walking towards Datamon. They both arrived at the digimon, placing their tags in Datamon's palms.

"Thank you for believing in me," Datamon replied. "I promise I won't let you down." Datamon crossed his four legs, sitting down while he operated on the two tags. Before he could do any actual work, however, the group spotted two lights, one east and one west, racing towards them.

"What are those?" Izzy asked.

"I don't know!" Rika replied in anger.

"Agumon, get ready." Tai stated to his partner, who nodded and jumped towards the nearest light, the one in the west.

"Wait! Kari objected as she eyed one of the lights, which was a bright pink. "I know what they are."

"What? What are they?" Tai asked his sister.

"They're our crests." T.K. replied for the girl, staring at the bright yellowish light in the distance.

"How can you be sure?" Tai's question was soon answered, when the two lights abruptly arrived in T.K. and Kari's palms. They hovered for a few seconds before leaving T.K. and Kari and sliding themselves into the pendants in Datamon's palms.

"Well now, look at that." Datamon lifted the two crests and dangled them in front of T.K. and Kari. "They're done."

"Really, that fast?" Rika said skeptically.

"Once a crest is inserted into a tag, the tracker is deactivated. The power of the crest is too overwhelming, and the tracker inside is fried."

"Really?" T.K. asked as he and Kari arrived at Datamon's side again and took the two crests, hanging them from their necks.

"Mmm Hmm." Datamon nodded. "The same thing happened to his crest." The computerized ultimate pointed at Eric.

***

"Here we are." Datamon tossed his hand upwards to show off the building. The tall, circular stone structure littered with openings and arches towered over them eerily.

"Wow, I didn't think he meant the actual Colosseum." Eric stared up at the massive structure in amazement. "This world has some serious copyright issues."

"Come come, I promise you won't be disappointed." "Datamon ran through one of the arched openings. "Hurry up!"

"Well, here's hoping." Eric passed the rest of the destined with Tentomon hovering over him and followed Datamon. The others followed warily. Datamon led them into the darkened hallways, leading them towards the inner sanctum. They eventually reached a large, wooden door that led to the middle of the building. He shoved the tall entrance open to reveal a large grassy courtyard, bathed in moonlight.

"There are rooms all over the lower level." Datamon waved his arms across the courtyard, pointing to the wall on the other side, which contained many doorways under the seats that created the Colosseum effect. "The food storage is located in this hallway too."

"I just can't see how we can trust we'll be safe here." Said Tai as the thirteen humans and digimon walked into the courtyard. "There's just no guarantee that we'll be safe from your allies at the DBDW."

"I took the tracers out of your tags, so you should be safe here. It would be a real surprise to me if they were to show up here. In fact, I was supposed to track you for them and report back once I had defeated you. So there isn't any reason for them to be here."

"Datamon!" A swift orange figure snatched Datamon from in front of them and dashed into the middle of the courtyard.

"Who is that?" Tai said as the group backed up in defense.

"Don't worry little buddy, I got you." The orange blur announced to the Datamon in his arms as he placed him down, away from the digidestined.

"Etemon? What are you doing here?" Datamon asked, taken aback.

"What am I doing here?" Etemon said in disbelief. "I think the only thing you should be saying to me is 'thank you for saving my life'!"

"Saving my..." Datamon stood in confusion. "Oh, from the digidestined. Etemon I've got something really exciting to tell you-"

"Later my friend, first let's get ready to battle these S.O.B.s. Come on out men!" Etemon screamed into the stadium.

"That's Etemon?" Tai said, his anger directed more towards Datamon than the monkey before them.

"Who's he calling?" Rika questioned. She was soon answered, when the massive army of BomberNanimon poored into the stadium from above, taking places in the stands and glaring down at Tai and the other digidestined.

"I'm afraid your reign of terror has finally come to an end." A booming voice behind them stated. The tamers twisted around and came face to face with the towering Mammothmon. They staggered backwards, placing themselves halfway between Etemon and Mammothmon.

"Stand back and enjoy the show, BomberNanimon," Etemon announced to his subordinates. "Watch as me and Mammothmon destroy this plague on our world!" Etemon threw his hands into the air victoriously.

"Don't get too cocky Etemon," The Mammoth warned. "Let's just Attack!!!!!!!!" Mammothmon charged towards the digidestined.

"I don't think so- Ready Agumon?" Tai's partner nodded.

**"Agumon digivolve to... Greymon!"**

**"Renamon digivolve to... Kyubimon!"**

**"Terriermon digivolve to... Gargomon!"**

**"Tentomon digivolve to... Kabuterimon!"**

**"Salamon digivolve to... Gatomon!"**

**"Patamon digivolve to... Angemon!"**

The six champion's pulled themselves in a circle, grasping at Mammothmon's large tusks when he slammed into them.

"Go find somewhere safe to take cover," Greymon grunted as they held off the digimon.

"Right, let's go!" Tai started off towards one of the doors.

"That's not going to happen!" Mammothmon tossed aside the six champions holding him down.

"Etemon you don't understand," Datamon tugged at the monkey's arms, "I've been trying to tell you that-"

"Not now Datamon," Etemon cut him off, "Just find somewhere to relax. Me and Mammothmon will take care of these bastards." Etemon rushed off towards the battle.

"But Etemon!"

"Hand of Fate!" Angemon's attack hit Mammothmon's forhead, doing little damage except to temporarily blind the prehistoric elephant.

"This guy's too strong- Electro-Shocker- for us too handle." Kabuterimon stated while he attacked, which Mammothmon easily deflected, "He must be an ultimate if the six of us combined can't handle him!"

"Nova Blast!" Greymon sent his fiery attack at Mammothmon, who blocked it with his gigantic foot and knocked the dinosaur away. Greymon crashed in front of the tamers, who pulled back in order to avoid being hit by the tall creature, who quickly de-digivolved to Agumon.

"You okay?" Tai asked as he came to the rookie's aid.

"Yeah, he just stunned me." Agumon replied in a daze.

"Well then, I guess it's time for a little payback." Tai grasped his digivice.

"Right."

**"Agumon, warp digivolve to..."**

"Dark Network!" A dark sphere of energy crashed into Agumon, preventing his evolution and sending him slamming into the wall.

"Agumon!" Tai tried to come to the digimon's side, but the orange ultimate leaped in front of him, cutting the six destined off from the wounded Agumon.

"You aren't going anywhere," Etemon growled, "This is a day of reckoning for you." Etemon lifted his hand into the air, another dark aura sphere forming in his palm. "Today is the day you die for all of your crimes. Dark Network!" Etemon tossed the aura at Tai.

"No!!!!!" Datamon leaped in front of the attack, taking the hit and saving Tai in the nick of time. Datamon rolled to the ground, severely damaged from the move.

"Datamon, what are you doing? Why are you protecting these children?" Etemon said in a lost confusion.

"Etemon, they aren't evil. They defeated Devimon and have come here to stop the real evil tamers from taking over Server." Datamon explained weakly.

"I don't believe it, they've brainwashed you!" Etemon stumbled back in fear. "No!"

"They didn't brainwash me, my friend, they just showed me the truth."

"I don't believe it. Damn you children!" Etemon raised his arm again.

"I don't think so!" The bunny-dog known as Gargomon tossed his metal fist into Etemon's face, knocking the ape a few feet across the courtyard. "So a monkey huh? Well this will be a zodiac free-for-all! Bunny Pummel!" Gargomon rushed towards Etemon, his fist poised to attack.

"Datamon, you protected us?" Tai stated in disbelief as he walked over to the bruised computer. Agumon, having pried himself off of the wall, dragged his body over to the wounded ultimate as well.

"I couldn't let the only real hope of salvation for this world be taken away, even at the cost of my own life." Datamon stated weakly. "Even if it means going against one of my closest friends, I have to ensure your survival."

"I don't believe it." Tai said bittersweetly.

"Tai move!" Agumon leaped into Tai, knocking him away from Datamon as another dark shepre crashed into his chest. Etemon stood a few feet away, his other arm tossing away the battered Terriermon he had just defeated, who was caught by Izzy.

"This is getting annoying." Terriermon retorted weakly as Izzy ran back to the cluster of digidestined.

"How could you? He was your friend!" Tai screamed at the monkey before him.

"You brainwashed him, you bastard. He will return someday as a digi-egg, and he will be liberated from your dark curse." Etemon glared at his opponent.

"We didn't brainwash him, we didn't do anything to him! He just realized that we were telling the truth!"

"And what truth is that?"

"That we're here to help you save this world from the evil digidestined!"

"I don't believe you." Etemon responded with hatred in his eyes.

"Then I guess I'll have to make you." Tai replied with the same eyes of anger. His digivice and crest began to glow with a dark light.

"What the-?" Etemon backed away, confused by the dark aura radiating from the human.

"Agumon, kill him." Tai growled with a deep voice.

"No problem." Agumon walked calmly in front of Tai, the same dark aura encompassing him.

"Tai, what's going on?" Eric walked up to the boy, his hand extended in friendship. Tai swung his arm at the tamer, his eyes wild with anger.

"Back off!" Tai screamed, then turned back to Etemon. "Do it now Agumon!"

"I won't give you the chance!" Etemon yelled in return, raising his arm. "Dark Network!" Etemon thrust the sphere into Agumon, where it joined the dark light around the digimon instead of doing it's intended effect of knocking him backwards.

"What's going on?" Rika asked in panic.

"Tai?" Kari said in a weak voice.

"What are you waiting for Agumon, do it!" Tai yelled at his partner, who then began to glow a deep purple.

**"Agumon, warp digivolve to..."** The dark light expanded into a huge form, forcing everyone but Tai to dash away to avoid it. Tai backed away a few steps, but still stared at Etemon, who was stumbling away in terror.

"What's happening to that Agumon? They're supposed to evolve into MetalGreymon or RiseGreymon, they don't have a dark form!" Etemon yelled in panic. Mammothmon, who had finished taking care of the champions he had been dealing with, looked up to see the dark mass before him.

"What the-?" Mammothmon backed away, the same as Etemon.

"Tai, get out of there!" Kari screamed to her brother as she ran towards him.

"Kari no!" Eric grabbed her hand.

"Let go, he's my brother!"

"Agumon won't hurt him, but he might hurt you now let's go!"

"No!"

"Yes, come on!" Eric's strength was stronger than Kari's will, and he dragged her away to the other side of the Colosseum.

"Are you ready to face a true ultimate, Etemon?" Tai asked darkly. "Because you're about to get more than you can handle." A demonic silhouette formed in Tai and the rapidly evolving Agumon's shadow, it's wings flinging backward as it laughed silently but uncontrollably.

"That doesn't look like MetalGreymon." Izzy stated as he looked at the new evolution, which shook off it's dark light to reveal a skinless, muscleless, souless dragon with a large missile on his back. The only thing left of Agumon were his bones, which shone brightly in the moonlight.

**"SkullGreymon!"**


	18. Viral Override, the Purification

**Chapter Eighteen: Viral Override, the Purification**

"SkullGreymon, destroy this bastard right now." Tai growled to his partner, who was glaring devilishly at Etemon.

"Mammothmon, I could use a little help here!" Etemon screamed to his partner, who was already rocketing to the scene.

"What a surprise, you found a way to corrupt this digimon's evolution." Mammothmon stated sarcastically as he arrived at the scene. "I'm going to make you pay for everything that you've done, human!" Mammothmon charged towards Tai, who tossed an irritated look at Mammothmon before ordering his partner to attack.

"Get rid of this pest." Tai stated, void of emotion. SkullGreymon twisted around, his mouth hanging open, ready to attack.

"Curse Breath!" SkullGreymon fired a dark cloud at Mammothmon, which easily consumed and paralyzed him. Mammothmon dropped to the ground, his body unable to flee. SkullGreymon walked to the digimon's side, with an angry smile across his face. "Now you die." The corrupted ultimate raised his arm, his bony claws poised for attack.

"Don't you dare!" Etemon leaped onto SkullGreymon's head, pulling the digimon backwards. "Dark Network!" The ape formed a dark sphere in his palm and tossed it into SkullGreymon's eyeless head. Moments later SkullGreymon thrust his body forward, throwing Etemon off of the monster and crashing him into a pile of BomberNanimon in the stands above.

"Now, where was I?" SkullGreymon raised his arm again.

"BomberNanimon, attack!" Etemon screamed weakly. The champions then sprang into action.

"Free Throw Bomb!" The brigade tossed a field of explosives into the courtyard. SkullGreymon laughed and knocked the weapons away with his arm. They activated harmlessly in the air.

"Don't let him survive," Etemon said tiredly, "Kamikaze Finale!" Etemon thrust his arm into the air, signaling the army to leap onto SkullGreymon, covering the digimon's entire body.

"Tai, move!" SkullGreymon growled, signaling Tai to flee to a separate wall from SkullGreymon.

"Get rid of them now!" Tai screamed in anger.

"I'm handling-Agh!" The Bomber's activated their final attack, blowing themselves up in unison to create a massive explosion. Tai shielded his eyes as smoke flew across the field. Once the debris had cleared, the tamer lfited his head to see the crater where SkullGreymon used to be. He growled again, slamming his fist into the wall next to him.

"You better not have died, SkullGreymon!" Tai yelled into the air. He then heard a crumbling noise, which directed his attention to the destroyed wall of the Colosseum where SkullGreymon had been. He watched the ivory dragon pull himself out of the pile of debris, shaking his head in recovery.

"That's what I want to see."

***

"Tai!" Kari tried to pull away from Eric, who was hugging the wall opposite SkullGreymon. While the others had gone to tend to their partners, Eric and Kari had been separated, due to the massive amount of debris that had formed from the BomberNanimon's attack.

"Kari, there's nothing you can do right now!" Eric yelled, pulling Kari away from the dusty field and back to the wall.

"I can't leave him over there, he's in trouble!"

"I know that Kari, but he's safe right now."

"Safe?" Kari angrily questioned the teen, "You call that safe!" She pointed at Tai, who was still covered in the dark aura.

"I know something is wrong with him Kari, but no one's going to hurt him right now. So instead of worrying about Tai, why don't you worry about your partner?" Eric pointed past the debris, where T.K. and Rika were tending to their partners while Izzy was making sure Salamon and Tentomon were safe.

"Salamon..." Kari sighed. "Let's go." She pulled Eric towards the wall of debris, trying to find a way around the wall of crumbled stone.

***

Mammothmon tried desperately to move his leg, to no avail. A tear formed in his eye, fearing what was about to happen. He watched as SkullGreymon brushed off the dust that had settled on him after the blast, then laughed.

"Was that the best you could do?" SkullGreymon growled to Etemon, who was twitching with pain. "You're pathetic." SkullGreymon laughed at the ape once again.

"Stop dawdling and get on with it." Tai stated angrily as he walked towards SkullGreymon. "Destroy those two now!"

"I'm on it, give me a break." SkullGreymon raised his arm once again, his claws grouped together, and thrust the sharp point into Mammothmon's neck. Mammothmon gagged in pain for half a second, then faded away into data.

"Mammothmon... no..." Etemon stared in disbelief as his friend's data rose into the air.

"Etemon..." A voice quietly rang.

"Who's there?" Etemon asked weakly.

"Etemon, don't mourn me..." The voice spoke again.

"Mammothmon, is that you?"

"Etemon, take what little power I have left, and avenge me..." Etemon could now see a faint light drawing closer to him.

"Mammothmon, is that your... your digi-core?"

"Use it Etemon, use it and destroy our enemies..." The voice faded away while the digi-core slowly hovered in front of Etemon, its glow recharging the ape's power.

"I will- avenge you Mammothmon. I'll avenge everyone who's suffered from the wrath of the digidestined." Etemon reached his hand out slowly and wrapped his palm around the shining orb.

*******

"Salamon!" Kari stumbled over the rubble and arrived at Salamon, who was lying in Izzy's lap. "Salamon, are you okay?" She pulled the cat-dog out of the boy's lap and pulled her tight into her chest.

"She's going to be fine," Izzy responded for the digimon, "She's just exhausted."

"Tentomon, how you doing buddy?" Eric came to Tentomon's side, resting the insect's head in his palm.

"I'm fine," Tentomon replied weakly, "Besides the searing pain rushing through my entire body."

"Don't worry Tentomon, they aren't going to get away with this."

"You got that right." Rika stated from a few feet away, "SkullGreymon just executed Mammothmon, revolution style."

"What?" Eric questioned.

"He decapitated him."

"What does that mean?" Kari asked worriedly.

"You don't want to know." Eric responded. "Okay, now that Mammothmon and Etemon are out of the picture, we need to deal with Tai."

"I agree, what should we do?" Rika asked as she propped Renamon on a smooth stone.

"Maybe me, you, and Kari should go confront him, try and reason with him." Eric suggested.

"It's better than nothing," Rika agreed, "Izzy, T.K., can you take care of the digimon?"

"Yeah." T.K. nodded.

"We'll keep them safe." Izzy replied.

"Okay, let's get going." Eric walked forward. "Kari, why don't you leave Salamon with Izzy, she'll be okay."

"No, I'm not leaving her."

"But Kari-"

"Don't push me Eric."

"Okay, let's go then." Eric walked forward, while Rika and Kari followed.

***

"Good work, SkullGreymon," Tai stated as he returned to SkullGreymon's side, "Even if you did have to be dramatic about it."

"I got the job done, didn't I?" SkullGreymon growled from above.

"Whatever, now take care of Etemon." Tai nodded in the direction of the defeated ape. "Make him pay for what he did to Datamon." SkullGreymon nodded and began walking slowly towards the rubble where Etemon lay.

"Tai!" The tamer turned to see Eric, Rika, and Kari with a wounded Salamon in her hands running towards him.

"What do you want?" Tai growled.

"Tai, what's your problem?" Eric questioned the boy as they arrived at the shrouded digidestined's location.

"What do you mean, what's my problem?" Tai glared at the three. "I'm taking care of Etemon for what he did to Datamon."

"Tai, your partner doesn't have any skin or blood, and you're covered in a dark cloud! Doesn't that bother you at all?"

"As long as it gets the job done, I really don't care what happens to me or SkullGreymon." Tai said without emotion.

"Tai, you don't really mean that!" Kari interjected. "Don't you see that something is really wrong with you and Agumon?"

"Shut up you little brat!" Tai lashed out at his sister. "What do you know?"

"Tai!" Eric pulled the girl behind him and Rika. "What is your problem, that's your sister!"

"I don't care."

"Tai-" Kari pushed her way through Eric and Rika, pleading with her brother.

"Enough! Stop bothering me or I'll have SkullGreymon take care of you next!" Tai walked away.

"What's wrong with him?" Kari cried as she collapsed to her knees.

"He let his anger get the best of him, thats what." Rika replied solemnly. She squeezed her hand into a fist and then walked away, towards the other digimon partners, and T.K. and Izzy.

"Rika, where are you going?"

"Away from that idiot!" Rika yelled. "He's going to get us all killed!"

"Rika..." Eric gave up trying to call the girl back. He leaned against the wall a few feet away and banged his fist against it in anger. "Dammit!" He leaned his head against the wall, contemplating the situation. What am I going to do, he thought. If I could only get this stupid crest to work, then maybe I could snap Tai and Agumon out of this. He slammed his fist against the wall angrily.

"Agh!" A loud scream behind him suddenly caught both his and Kari's attentions. Behind them, Tai had keeled over in pain, grasping at his neck.

"Tai, what's wrong?" Kari yelled to her brother as she and Eric ran to the boy's aid.

"Get away from me!" Tai screamed, the cloud around him getting darker.

"Dammit Tai, let us help you!" Eric reached for the boy's shoulder. Just then a dark stream of light burst from Tai's crest and knocked Eric and Kari backwards. "What the-?" Eric and Kari stared helplessly as Tai screamed in pain, the darkness around him fading away as the evil light from his crest streamed into SkullGreymon. SkullGreymon dropped to the ground in pain too, roaring with a deafening voice.

"What's happening to them?" Kari panicked.

"I'm not sure." Eric stated in disbelief. He watched the stream of dark light vanish from Tai's crest and poor fully into SkullGreymon. Afterwards, the older brother of Kari, freed from the dark cloud, dropped to the ground in exhaustion.

"Tai!" Kari came to her brother's side, turning him onto his back so he could talk.

"Kari, what happened?" Tai asked weakly.

"Oh Tai, I'm so glad you're alright!" Kari wrapped her arm around Tai's neck, hugging him tightly, while the other hand hung onto the unconscious Salamon.

"Oh, this is bad." Eric stared at SkullGreymon, who reflected brightly in the moonlight. His eyes were also trained on SkullGreymon's shadow, however, which held a much different image than the one that the mutant ultimate should have projected. "Devimon..."

"How observant of you." SkullGreymon suddenly growled, in a voice that was not his own. "I was wondering when one of you foolish children would figure it out." SkullGreymon lifted himself off of the ground, using the wall next to him as a support.

"I don't believe it, so it was you controlling Tai and Agumon this whole time!" Eric staggered backwards.

"Well not exactly," SkullGreymon smiled, "Just a projection of me. My data that I hid inside of Tai's crest when I realized that I was going to lose." He hovered over Eric, who stared up at the undead dragon with fear and anger. "Of course, I needed to insert myself fully into SkullGreymon before I could fully take over his conscious."

"I can't believe it." Eric's entire body quivered, his fear now taking over him.

"Well get used to it, because I am not going anywhere!" SkullGreymon/Devimon lifted his arm, ready to swipe at the paralyzed tamer.

"Don't bet on that!" A voice behind SkullGreymon yelled.

"What?" SkullGreymon turned his head, eying the digimon who had confronted him. "Etemon?" He stared at the monkey, who was standing behind him, his strength having returned.

"That's right, you heartless bastard." Etemon growled. SkullGreymon turned around to face him, while Eric took this chance to run towards Kari and Tai, and pull them out of the way of the two ultimates.

"Didn't I beat the crap out of you?" SkullGreymon laughed.

"Yes you did, but thanks to Mammothmon, I now have the strength to destroy you."

"You?" SkullGreymon laughed. "In your current condition? I'd like to see you try!"

"I'm not going to defeat you like this," Etemon glared at SkullGreymon. "I'm going to defeat you like this!" Etemon leaped into the air. **"Slide Evolution..."** A bright light consumed Etemon, then dissipated a few moments new Etemon looked the same, except where his legs used to be, a large sphere of cables now took hold. "You can thank Mammothmon for this, he gave me the strength to defeat you!" Etemon launched himself towards SkullGreymon, who raised his arms defensively. "Dark Network!" Etemon's modified attack involved the cables in his sphere spiraling outwards and wrapping around SkullGreymon's bone filled body.

"Agh, dammit!" SkullGreymon struggled to escape Etemon's surprising attack. "Let me out you jackass!"

"Sure, that'll happen!" Etemon tightened his grip on SkullGreymon, limiting the digimon's already restricted movement.

***

"What's happening now?" Kari groaned as she and Eric pulled Tai to the wall opposite the battle. "Can't we get a break?"

"That's not in our job description Kari." Eric stated dryly as he helped the girl lean her brother against the wall. "Tai, wake up!" Eric shook the boy's head back in forth. "Your partner needs you!"

"I wish I could do something to help..." Kari said drearily as Eric continued to try to wake the exhausted leader. "Salamon, I'm sorry I let you take so much abuse."

"Kari...?" The small digimon in her arms whispered.

"Salamon?" Kari said happily. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Salamon struggled to get out of Kari's arms. "Let me help Agumon."

"Wait, no! You're too hurt." She cried as Salamon leaped from her arms.

"I have to try something, so you can either help me or get out of my way." She stated weakly, surprising Kari.

"Okay then," Kari nodded, grasping her digivice.

**"Salamon digivolve to... Gatomon!"** Gatomon breathed heavily upon her evolution. "Don't worry Kari, I'll be okay!" She yelled as she ran towards the battle.

"Be careful Gatomon."

***

Etemon tightened his grip on the SkullGreymon, the cables restricting SkullGreymon's movement substantially. SkullGreymon collapsed to his knees, the bindings stealing his ability to stand.

"Stop fighting it, I'm too strong for you!" Etemon tightened his grip even further.

"It's... amusing that you... believe that..." SkullGreymon stated in suffocation. "Dark... Shot!" The missile on SkullGreymon's back fired off and blasted into Etemon's chest, incinerating the cables restricting the corrupted ultimate and knocking Etemon back into the wall he came from.

"There we go..." SkullGreymon massaged his bony neck, while Etemon used his cables to drag himself out of the rubble, the vaporized cables regenerating in the process. "Now let's get this over with." SkullGreymon stood up, facing the angry Etemon.

"You'll pay for that." Etemon stated as the dark cables pulled themselves back together into a sphere. "I'll destroy you!"

"Try it!" SkullGreymon leaped forward, surprising Etemon. The dragon snatched the ape's arm and swung him into the air, before the digimon could defend himself.

"Ayah!" Etemon screamed as he flew higher into the air, trying desperately to stop his ascension.

"Good bye Etemon- Dark Shot!" The regenerated missile on SkullGreymon's back took off and crashed into Etemon's cable sphere, incinerating it in seconds.

"No!" Etemon screamed as the aftermath of the attack incinerated the orange jumpsuit around him, throwing him into the stratosphere.

"There we go." SkullGreymon cracked his cartilage-less shoulders and smiled. "Too easy." He then turned towards Eric, Kari, and Tai, to take care of his next enemy. "Now for you-" Gatomon leaped upwards and punched SkullGreymon in the jaw, knocking him backwards into the shattered ruins of the Colosseum wall.  
"Get out of my friend right now!" Gatomon screamed at the demon.

"And why would I do that? Ha ha ha!" SkullGreymon lifted himself off of the ground again, staring down the feline in front of him.

"You'll do it because if you don't then I'll kick your ass Devimon, you coward!"

"I'm terrified." SkullGreymon laughed in a condescending tone. "But let's be serious, you'll never lay another paw on me! Yah!" He swung his fist at Gatomon, who was barely able to dodge, landing on the demon's arm and dashed towards Greymon's skull. SkullGreymon responded by smashing his arm into the wall, which Gatomon was also barely able to dodge.

"You're not going to hit me, you pitiful creature."

"You are wrong about that- Lighting Paw!" Gatomon leaped forward with extreme speed, but SkullGreymon quickly raised his arm and slammed Gatomon into the earth, pinning her down with ease.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you." SkullGreymon grasped the feline in his palm and lifted her up into the air, and then tossing her into the ground with extreme force. Gatomon yelped in pain before passing out.

"Gatomon!" Kari yelled to her partner as SkullGreymon hovered over her. Upon hearing Kari's squeal he lifted his head, his eyeless head locking onto the young girl.

"What's going on?" Rika asked as she, T.K., Izzy, and the partially recovered digimon came to join Eric, who was trying to resuscitate Tai.

"Devimon was controlling Tai, and he-"

"Oh no! Kari!" Rika interrupted him, calling to the girl who was getting closer to the ultimate demon. "Renamon, you have to save her!"

"Right." Renamon started running forward, but doubled over in pain before she could get any farther. "Ayah, I'm too weak to do anything right now."

"Renamon," Rika came to the digimon's aid, while Eric ran past her towards Kari.

"Kari, get out of there!" Eric called to the girl, who wasn't listening.

"I'm not afraid of you." Kari said weakly as SkullGreymon stared at her evilly.

"You really think you can stand up to me?" SkullGreymon growled at the girl. "That's extremely amusing. What do you plan to do, talk me to death? Ha ha ha!" SkullGreymon laughed a little too much at his own joke.

"I'm not afraid of you because I can't afford to Devimon!" Kari yelled up at the dragon. "I'm going to stop you, to save my brother and his partner!"

"No you won't little girl, I'm going to destroy you before you ever get the chance!" SkullGreymon raised his hand for another strike. As he pulled his hand down, he noticed the sparkling pendant around the girl's neck. She's found her crest, he thought.

"Kari!" Eric ran towards the girl, but was knocked off of his feet as a beam of light shot upward from the girl and into the sky. The light temporarily blinded SkullGreymon, knocking him backwards as well.

"No, why does this keep happening?" SkullGreymon staggered backwards, too blinded by the light to try to attack Kari. The light then extended down from the sky, consuming the Gatomon lying in between the girl and SkullGreymon. Gatomon was pulled upwards until she was at eye level with SkullGreymon. She lifted her head as the energy from Kari's crest regenerated her.

"Devimon, get out of Agumon's body now or we'll be forced to destroy you." Kari and Gatomon stated simultaneously.

"Never, and that's extremely creepy." SkullGreymon growled as he adjusted to the blinding light.

"Then you've brought this on yourself." They said simultaneously again as Kari's digivice sent a beam of energy to Gatomon.

"How did they learn to synchronize themselves like that?"

**"Gatomon digivolve to...!" **The pink shaded light wrapped around Gatomon, as she grew taller than an average human adult.

"No, not this time!" SkullGreymon launched his fist towards the evolving Gatomon, but the light was too intense for the dark creature, the luster burning through Greymon's bony arms. He pulled his arm back in pain, the light forcing him backwards as it began to burn the front of his body. "Damn!"

**"Angewomon!"** As the light around the new ultimate faded away, SkullGreymon and all of the digidestined could see the female angel hovering above the corrupted Agumon.

"Wow..." Patamon in particular was extremely impressed.

"Dammit, it's always one step forwards and two steps backward with you people!" SkullGreymon backed away defensively, cringing at the sight of the hovering angel. "I hope you know that just because you digivolved it doesn't mean you'll have any more luck defeating me than before. I'm a merge of two ultimate powers, you can't possibly-"

"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon sprung into action, forming a bow and arrow of energy and firing it straight at SkullGreymon's chest.

"No!" SkullGreymon waved his hand in front of the arrow, allowing it to penetrate his wrist, but nothing more. He took a quick glance at the only organ in his body, the shriveled heart muscle that housed his entire organic self outside of his skeleton. "If you think you're getting in there at all..." SkullGreymon's ribcage suddenly slammed shut, protecting the organ, "Then you're a bigger fool then I thought. Dark Shot!" The red fleshy missile launched at Angewomon, who was quick to defend.

"Heaven's Charm!" A large cross of light suddenly appeared before Angewomon, destroying the attack easily upon impact. "You won't defeat me so easily SkullGreymon. After all, I'm a vaccine type, and I'm destined to stop monster like you! Celestial Arrow!" She fired the golden arrow again, but this time SkullGreymon leaped away, rolling across the courtyard in a defensive motion.

"This is going to be interesting, curse breath!" He fired his dark breath at Angewomon, who quickly defended once again.

'Heaven's Charm!" The cross dissipated the gas, and it disappeared, along with Angewomon.

"Where'd she go?" SkullGreymon looked around, trying to discover the whereabouts of the angel.

"Hyah!" Angewomon delivered a heavy kick to the back of SkullGreymon's head, having taken the opportunity of the dragon's attack to quickly position herself around the demon. The attack shoved SkullGreymon to the ground, and he had to brace himself with his arms to avoid crashing his bone extensions into the earth and shattering them.

"Do you really want to get physical with me?" SkullGreymon threw himself up into the air, avoiding Angewomon and hovering over her. Angewomon smiled at the demon above her before vanishing into a blur. SkullGreymon growled, then returned to the ground in the middle of the courtyard. She's faster than me, he thought, but it doesn't matter, I can hear every movement she makes. He then heard the rushing of air to his left side, so he swung his left arm outwards, where it crashed into Angewomon's stomach. She shrieked in pain before using the arm to leap away from SkullGreymon, flying into the air rapidly and preparing another special attack.

"Celestial Arrow!" The attack came quickly, giving SkullGreymon virtually no time to dodge. SkullGreymon had to dig his heels into the earth to avoid being hit by the divine attack, throwing his body backwards with the newly gained leverage.

"Dark Shot!" The missile on SkullGreymon's back fired quickly, speeding towards Angewomon who easily dodged it.

"Give it up SkullGreymon, you can't match my speed-"

"That's what you think!" SkullGreymon launched himself into the air with a speed Angewomon had not seen before, and grasped her in his palm. He squeezed tightly, forcing a scream from Angewomon.

"Agh!" Angewomon cried out, having been caught in SkullGreymon's trap.

"Angewomon no!" Kari cried to her partner.

"She's just not strong enough," Eric murmured, "The combined strength of MetalGreymon and Devimon is just too much for her. If it were just one of them, then..." A thought suddenly occurred to him. "Tai, Tai, wake up right now!" Eric shook Tai violently, trying to awaken the boy from his depressive coma. "Tai, Angewomon and your sister both need your help. You have to get up right now!" Eric jabbed Tai in the face with his fist, shocking the goggled boy and waking him up.

"Ow!" Tai crawled backwards rapidly, trying to figure out what happened. "Who hit me?"

"It's about time you woke up, you lazy bastard," Eric stood up, helping Tai get up as well, "Kari needs your help!"

"What? What's wrong with Kari?" Tai tried to shove past Eric, but the American snatched the boy's collar, dragging him back.

"It's not Kari, it's her partner. Gatomon digivolved to Angewomon to save SkullGreymon from Devimon, and now she's in trouble." Eric pointed up to where SkullGreymon was strangling the angel.

"No, Agumon, what did I do to you." Tai staggered backwards, the previous events of the night suddenly dawning on him. "What did I do?" Tears swelled in the boy's eyes.

"What you did is put all of us in danger Tai!" Rika yelled at him.

"Not now Rika!" Eric screamed with a furious voice, shocking Rika. "Tai, forget about what you've done for a minute and focus on the fact that your sister's partner is about to die, unless you do something about it, right now!" Eric's crest began to glow mildly, unknown to the group.

"Uh, but-" Tai stuttered.

"Damn it Tai, just get in there and try to get to your partner!" Eric grabbed Tai's collar again and shoved him towards the battlefield.

"Okay." Tai nodded, his sense of leadership returning. He ran close to the battlefield, looking up at SkullGreymon from a few hundred feet away, and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Greymon!" He called to his partner, who paid no attention to him. "Greymon, it's me, Tai!" He screamed louder and louder. "Greymon!"

"Tai... is that you...?" Angewomon grunted from the palms of SkullGreymon.

"Greymon!"

"Agumon..." Angewomon addressed her tormentor, "Agumon, your partner's trying to contact you. Please... listen to him... please."

"Greymon!"

"Your partner isn't here anymore!" SkullGreymon finally decided to respond to the boy. "I control this body now, and you would be wise to remember it!"

"Greymon, I know you're in there, you have to fight the evil!"

"Give it up you fool, your partner is dead!"

"Greymon..." Tai coughed, his voice getting hoarse from the yelling. "Greymon... Greymon... Greymon! I know you can hear me! Please, fight it, please!"

"You moron, he's not going to-" SkullGreymon lightened his grip on Angewomon, giving her the opportunity to slip away from his grasp and vanish into the moonlight. "Dammit! You made me lose her!" SkullGreymon glared angrily at Tai. "Now you die!"

"You won't kill me, because I know Agumon is in there, and I'm going to get him away from you!"

"You fool, there isn't any part of your partner left!" While SkullGreymon laughed, his chest cavity slowly began to spread open, exposing the fleshy organ inside of him.

"Are you sure about that?" Tai growled, "Because it looks to me like he's got more control of that body than you do!"

"What are you..." SkullGreymon heard a sweeping motion behind him. He twisted around and upwards to see Angewomon aiming at his chest with a powerful shining arrow. "Ha, do your worst!"

"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon launched the arrow at SkullGreymon, who was confident his steel skeleton would block it. He eyed the arrow speed towards his chest, and looked down just in time to realize that his ribcage was open.

"Ayah!" SkullGreymon screamed as the arrow pierced his heart, signaling his destruction.

***

Okay I don't want to be a bother but I'd really appreciate it if someone would review. After all, the amount of people I see visiting my story on the story traffic page can only inspire me so much. I recently read a fanfic where the writer complained that they only got five reviews for a previous chapter, and as you can probably tell it's just my hope to get five more reviews before I finish this story.


	19. A New Beginning

**Chapter Nineteen: A New Beginning**

"Gah-agh!" SkullGreymon gagged uncontrollably, the arrow in his chest covering his heart in a fiery blaze. He collapsed onto the ground, gasping desperately for any relief.

"I told you SkullGreymon, you brought this on yourself!" Angewomon announced as she floated down from the sky. "Now get out of my friend's body right this instant!" She raised her arm. "Celestial..." The golden arrow began to form in her arm.

"Hurry up with it," Tai ordered the struggling digimon, "Give me back my partner."

"You...Gah! You just don't get it do you... this is my... body now... and nothing you do... will take it away from me... say goodbye... to your partner... Taichi Kamiya..." SkullGreymon's head fell to the ground, too weak to continue talking.

"Stop lying and get out of there!" Tai yelled at the digimon.

"Oh no," Angewomon whispered, as she realized what was about to happen. Just then, SkullGreymon began to fade away into data.

"Agumon..." The unfortunate event that was about to occur now dawned on Tai. He watched the data of SkullGreymon's legs fade away, his torso not disintegrating. "Agumon!" Tai ran towards the ultimate, as his data dissipated rapidly. "Agumon, no!" Tai watched helplessly as the rest of SkullGreymon's body faded away. "Agumon!!!!!"

***

Kari stared at her brother, who was sitting a few dozen feet from her in the intact bleachers of the Colosseum, while she lightly scratched the top of Nyaromon's head, who was purring softly. She contemplated talking to the boy, but realizing that she had nothing to say, decided against it.

"I need to say something," Nyaromon suddenly spoke.

"What?" Kari said, startled.

"I need to tell Tai something, or rather, ask him." Nyaromon's voice cracked when she said those last few words.

"Yeah, uh, sure." Kari stood up and walked over to her brother, who's head was buried in his crossed arms. "Tai," She spoke softly, attracting the brother's attention.

"What is it Kari?" Tai said in an emotionless voice.

"Nyaromon needs to say something to you." She replied.

"What...?" Tai was confused.

"Tai," The in-training leaped from Kari's arms and landed on a bleacher a few feet down, "I'm so sorry."

"What? Why would you-"

"Please forgive me Tai, I had no idea that my attack was going to destroy Agumon too. If I had known then I would have found a different way to stop Devimon. I can't describe to you how bad I feel. He was one of my best friends and I..." Tears swelled in the digimon's eyes.

"It's not your fault Nyaromon." Tai stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "I had just as much to do with it as you."

"What do you mean?" Nyaromon asked in a weak voice.

"I mean, if I hadn't tried to reach Agumon so persistently, then you would never have had the opportunity to destroy SkullGreymon. I was the one that broke through to Agumon, which is why he opened up his ribcage and allowed you to attack." Nyaromon burst into tears.

"Oh Tai!" She jumped into his arms, crying hysterically.

"Well, I guess if they can forgive each other, then they should eventually be able to forgive themselves." Eric gave a half smile to no one in particular, and turned his head back to the vaporized battlefield, where he, T.K., Rika, Izzy, and their digimon were recovering from the relentless battle.

"I don't give a damn if Tai forgives himself." Rika mumbled, barely catching the attention of the three boy's around her.

"What, Rika, why would you say that?" Izzy inquired.

"He almost got us killed, that's why I would say something like that."

"It wasn't his fault Rika, De-" Eric tried to reason.

"I told you, I don't care who's fault it is!" Rika's pout turned into a rage. "He destroyed his partner, and he almost destroyed the rest of us, I can't believe he would be so reckless! I'm not going to stand around here and wait for Tai to do something to Renamon, I'm out of here!" Rika began to storm off, towards one of the now many exits from the Colosseum.

"Rika, what- where did that come from?" Eric, with his Tentomon partner hanging onto his back, followed her, while Izzy and T.K., holding their weakened partners in their arms, followed close behind.

"Rika, you can't just leave-"

"Yes I can, I'm not going to put Renamon in any more danger by being in the same vicinity as Tai. If you all are smart you'll come with me." She growled, signaling her partner by waving her hand forward. "Let's go Renamon." Her partner rushed to her side.

"Rika, are you sure about this?" Renamon asked quietly.

"Not now Renamon," Rika walked faster.

"Rika, you can't just leave, we're a team and we need you here!" Eric rushed in front of Rika, blocking her escape. "In case you don't remember, the last time we separated, we went through hell-"

"We are going through the same hell as a team Eric!" Rika screamed suddenly. "I'll fare better where someone's not dragging me down!" Rika tried to walk forward, but Eric stopped her.

"We all need you Rika. T.K. needs you to help him find his brother. Tai needs you-"

"Get out of my way!" Rika yelled again.

"No!" He replied with the same anger.

"I'm warning you," Rika growled.

"You're not getting past me Rika, you-" Rika slammed her knee upwards into Eric, causing him to fall backwards. "That was... messed up..." Eric muttered in a falsetto voice.

"I warned you." Rika replied in a superior voice. "Izzy, T.K., if you're smart you'll follow me." She and Renamon started walking towards the large opening in the Colosseum created by the battle between SkullGreymon and the BomberNanimon.

"Izzy..." Eric struggled to say from the ground, "You can't let her go off alone..."

"I know," Izzy muttered, the first thing he spoke that day. "I'll go with her, try to convince her to return to the group."

"Okay... that's a good idea." Eric replied, lifting himself off of the ground as he recovered from Rika's malicious attack.

"Should I go with you?" T.K. questioned the genius as he started walking towards Rika.

"No, we'll be okay by ourselves. Besides, you need to find your brother." Izzy lifted Terriermon on his shoulder, the digimon wrapping his ear around the boy's neck instinctively.

"Try and convince her to go to that mountain that Datamon was talking about, we'll try to meet you there." Eric said as he tried to walk forward. The pain that Rika had inflicted restricted his movement to just a few steps, however.

"Okay, we'll see you guys soon." Izzy ran after Rika, leaving T.K. to help Eric return to the stone bleachers.

"What did Rika do to you?" T.K. asked as he let the thirteen year old partially lean on his shoulder.

"You didn't see?" Eric asked tiredly.

"No."

"She kneed me in the groin T.K." The young boy winced at the image.

***

"Rika, wait up!" Izzy called to the girl ahead of him. She turned around for a second to see the shorter boy struggling to catch up with her.

"Hurry up, I want to get as far away from here as possible before night fall." She spoke as Izzy caught up to her and Renamon.

"Rika, are you sure you want to do this?"

"I don't want to talk about Tai anymore Izzy."

"But Rika-"

"Izzy," Renamon pulled the boy back, quieting him. "Let's not talk about this with Rika anymore." She whispered as Rika quickly distanced herself from the two.

"Why, we can't-"

"Izzy, Rika put a lot of trust in Tai," Renamon interrupted him. "She trusted him to lead and protect us until all us other digimon could digivolve to ultimate, and he let her down. He almost destroyed us and he lost his partner, and our friend."

"It wasn't his fault Renamon, Devimon was controlling Tai and SkullGreymon the entire time." Izzy had begun whispering as well.

"Even if that's the case Izzy, she's just not ready to here it right now. Wait until she calms down, and then talk to her about it."

"Okay then..." Izzy quieted down as he and Renamon returned to Rika's side and walked off into the morning desert, leaving the rest of the team behind.

***

"Thank you T.K." Eric said to the boy as he sat down on the bench, wincing in the process. He pulled the unconscious Tentomon off of his back and placed him on the bench next to him.

"I should go check on Tai and Kari, see how they're doing." T.K. mentioned as he backed away from the recovering teen.

"Okay, I'll be up there in a few minutes." Eric replied painfully. T.K. nodded and then started up the staircase that followed the Colosseum seating, where Tai and Kari were. He placed the tired Patamon down on one of the more comfortable benches before walking toward the two siblings, who were talking with Nyaromon.

"Hey..." T.K. spoke to the three who were wrapped in quiet conversation. "How are you all doing?"

"Fine T.K.," Tai answered solemnly.

"Come on Tai, don't do this to yourself," T.K. protested the leader's sullen attitude, "It's not your fault."

"Yes it is T.K."

"No Tai, Devimon took control of you and Agumon."

"But if it weren't for my out of control anger, then Devimon would never have gotten the chance to take over us. Devimon took control of Agumon because I couldn't keep my temper down, so in the end, it's all my fault."

"Tai, you can't keep thinking that way. The digital world needs us to save it, and it needs you to stop pouting and get to work."

"What good can I do, when I destroyed my partner?"

"Tai, Agumon isn't dead," Kari interjected, "he'll be reconfigured as a digi-egg, someday. You just have to continue on and look forward to the day when you'll see Agumon again."

"Agumon..." Tai stared down at his feet, too ashamed to think of confronting his partner again.

***

"Man, it's so desolate." T.K. murmured as he and Eric stared at the fast desert before them. They had climbed to the top of the Colosseum, facing the desert they had not yet crossed, and had sat down to discuss their next course of action. Kari had remained with Tai to try and snap him out of his depression. "Where are we going to go?"

"Datamon said that the evil digidestined were held up in a mountain that fed the river," Eric pointed to the waterway in the distance, "And he obviously wasn't trying to trick us, so we should head there." Eric reflected for a minute, remembering Datamon's sacrifice.

"And that's probably where Izzy and Rika went."

"I didn't think of that." Eric said in a rejecting tone.

"Is there a problem with that?"

"Yeah, if Izzy and Rika where to ever find a town along that river, then they'd probably try to convince them that they are the good digidestined, and if the off chance that the digimon of that village would believe them..."

"What?"

"Then, when we arrived there, it would be a lot harder to convince them we were on there side."

"What, why?"

"Because it seems to suspicious when two different groups of someone you believe to be the enemy arrive at your town consecutively."

"How do you know that?"

"Just logic and common sense, which I'll admit I have very little of, so I could be wrong."

"What's that?" T.K. suddenly changed the direction of the conversation.

"What's what?" Eric responded.

"That green line in the distance," T.K. pointed forward.

"Green line?" Eric squinted his eyes, staring at the direction T.K. was pointing. It took him a few seconds to make out a thin, wavy line in the distance of the desert. "Looks like it might be a forest, but it could also just be a mirage. If we could only get a closer look at it..."

"I've got something." T.K. pulled his small green backpack to his chest and pulled a small metal pair of binoculars out of it.

"Where'd you get those?"

"I bird watch."

"Really?" Eric stared back at Patamon, who along with Tentomon was trying to comfort Nyaromon after waking up and learning of the previous events by Eric and T.K. "Well, you certainly got the right partner." T.K. was no longer paying attention, and was focusing his binocular lenses on the green line in the distance.

"It's definitely a forest, I don't think you can see mirages through binoculars.

"And I don't think we're hungry or thirsty enough to be seeing them either."

"If we head that way, we might be able to find some other villages who can help us."

"Yeah, but we should probably wait until tomorrow." Eric looked up in the air at the twilight sky. Most of the day had passed since Rika and Izzy had abandoned the group. "Deserts get really cold at night, and we have food and water here."

"Okay, we should go tell Tai and Kari we have a plan."

"Right." Eric shoved off of the ledge and started walking down the bleacher steps. "Come on T.K." He and the younger boy strolled down the stairway between the seating on that side of the Colosseum. They made it to the courtyard and crossed it, passing the three digimon who were deep in conversation and making their way to the two digidestined on the other intact seating area.

"Tai, Kari!" Eric and T.K. called to the two children as they arrived at the other side of the stadium.

"What is it?" Tai responded solemnly.

"We have a plan," Eric began, "There's a forest not too far from us, so tomorrow we should head over there and try to find some allies, and another way to get to that mountain that Datamon told us about." Tai winced at the mention of the fallen ally.

"Right, so?" Tai seemed unconcerned with the two boys' plan.

"So, we should probably set ourselves inside for the night. It gets extremely cold in the desert once dusk comes around (which I think I've said fifty times), and I'd rather not be out in the open if some more members of the DBDW come around, trying to find out what happened to Etemon and Mammothmon." Eric pointed at some of the intact rooms near the base of the stadium.

"Right, okay then." Tai stood up and started walking down the stairs, void of emotion. The others somberly followed. At the courtyard, Kari called to the three digimon talking in the middle of the field, and they all found a series of rooms to board for the night. They quickly fell asleep, remembering to barricade the doors just in case they gained some unexpected visitors. As the night passed, they slept soundly, unaware of the muscular feline that had slipped into the destroyed courtyard. The silver armored digimon walked into the middle of the field, clutching a shining object in his left palm. With his right arm he swept away a large amount of earth in front of him, then placed the object in the small crater. He then recovered the object with the previously removed earth, and walked away. Grappleomon glanced at the rooms housing the digidestined and then sighed, concerned for their well-being. He thought about revealing himself to them, but remembering the last ones he tried to guide through the digital world, and their fate, deciding against it. He leaped into the air, vanishing into the moonlight.

***

"Tai, Kari!" Eric and T.K. knocked on the doors of the two digidestined, waiting for a reply while Tentomon and Patamon gathered some supplies from a room a few yards away.

"I'm coming." Kari called from her room, while Eric stood outside her door impatiently.

"Please hurry Kari, I don't want us to be here any longer than we have to." He tapped his foot impatiently, but the girl exited the room a moment later, a sleeping Nyaromon in her arms.

"Tai?" T.K. knocked on the boy's door again, with no response. "Tai come on." T.K. sighed.

"I'll get him." Kari walked over to her brother's room and pushed the door open slightly, the barricade within stopping her from going any farther. With the little light she had, she could see Tai inside, sitting on a spartan style bed, just staring into space. "Come on Tai, let's go." the boy looked up at her, sighing.

"I'm coming." Tai lifted himself up and removed the barricade from the front of his door, returning to the six outside. "Let's get going." He started walking towards the giant hole in the wall of the Colosseum. The others followed quietly. They headed towards the gap by cutting through the middle of the courtyard. As they headed through the now dusty field, Tai's crest suddenly started to shine an orange light. "Huh?" The group was startled, all of their eyes now trained to Tai's neck, where the crest was reacting wildly to some unknown force.

"What's wrong with it?" T.K. inquired.

"I don't know," Eric replied, "It looks like it's reacting to..." The group's attention was turned toward the earth in front of them, which was shaking mildly.

"Could it really be?" Tai stared in awe as a light burst from the ground before them, rising a small object upwards. The group focused on the light covered object, and finally realized it was an oval sphere covered in a yellow spotted pattern.

"It's a digi-egg!" Izzy announced excitedly.

"It's Agumon!" Nyaromon screamed happily.

"Agumon...?" Tai muttered, staring at the object, which was now slowly making its way towards him. The beam of light disappeared, the egg now settling in Tai's arms. "Agumon?" He muttered with a smile on his face. "Agumon! It's you, I'm so happy to have you back!" He hugged the egg tightly. Even though he couldn't see his partner within the shell, he could feel the digimon within, growing and struggling to come back to the world.

"He's back," Kari smiled, looking at the expression of pure joy on her brother's face, who was supporting the digi-egg joyfully. The group watched Tai for a few minutes as he expressed his happiness at his partner's return.

"Tai, I'm glad you got your partner back, but we need to get going." Eric interrupted the partial reunion, prompting a confused grunt from Tai. "We need to go before someone comes here and finds us, especially someone we can't afford to run into right now, like another ultimate or one of the evil tamers." While his words were sobering, everyone knew Eric was right. They were in an extremely vulnerable position, since there only two ultimates were at an in-training stage and at an egg, making the champions Angemon and Kabuterimon the only ones who could defend them if they got into a battle.

"Right, let's go." Tai nodded with determination, his first passionate emotion since earlier yesterday. Together, the four digidestined, three digidestined, along with the digi-egg holding Agumon, headed out of the Colosseum towards the forest in the distance. As they exited the stadium, a shadowy sphere watched from the top of the wall opposite them. The winged dark creature stared at them angrily, before offering a smile and a small laugh.

"Ha, you fools. You think you've won?" The figure muttered to himself. "Everything you do, every new level you reach, every ally you make, every enemy you destroy, all of it benefits me. Every strike you've made against me has all been a part of my master plan, and soon, I will reach my full potential, and I'll-" The creature backed too far towards the edge, and slipped off the wall, falling a hundred feet towards the desert below.

"AAHH-Pwfff!" The dark bat slammed into the soft desert, coughing as he pulled himself out of the small crater he had created. "Just a small mishap, but it doesn't change a thing!" The bat flew upwards, returning to his previous position, but remembering to place himself inwards towards the courtyard instead of leaning towards the outer wall. "You will all fall before me, for at the moment you least expect it, I'll strike, and take my revenge. Ah, ha ha ha ha!" DemiDevimon laughed uncontrollably as he watched the four digidestined and their partners walk or fly away from the battlefield, unaware of the raving digimon behind them. "The true battle has just begun my friends, keep on your current path and watch as I ascend to my ultimate level," DemiDevimon glowed a dark purple, increasing to the size of a human adult, resembling a suited man with a cape. The red masked digimon finished his statement, smiling devilishly, "and devour you."

***

**"Myotismon!" **Tai awoke in a cold sweat, throwing the small blanket off of him and breathing heavily. "What, was that... a dream?" Tai controlled his breathing, grabbing the canteen of water by his bedside and taking a long drink to calm himself down. "Where is everybody?" Tai searched the forest around him, noticing that all of his friend's beds were empty. Their partners were gone as well. Realizing they must be spying on the town a mile to their north, Tai slipped his clothes back on and folded up his bed, placing it next to the rest of the camp equipment, which was all piled together. Tai then picked up Agumon's egg, which had been placed in a comfortable pile of leaves, and walked into the forest, looking for his friends.

"Guys? Guys?" Tai whispered loudly, searching for his friends. Upon reaching the small village, which they had encountered two days ago after a two day hike through the forest, marking the end of their second week in the digital world, he started to walk cautiously. Once they reached the village, they had been waiting outside, trying to figure out a way to ally with the digimon inside. They were extremely wary of going into the city, however, deciding instead to wait for a citizen of the village to exit the town so they could talk with it and try to find a way inside. Tai realized that Eric, Kari, and T.K. must have found a way inside, so he started circling the small, walled village. He quickly realized that he was wrong, when he saw a pile of logs next to the wall of the city, upon which Eric, Kari, and T.K. were perched and spying on the inside of the town.

"What are you guys doing?" Tai asked quietly, surprising the three.

"Keep it down!" Eric whispered as he struggled to stand on top of the log pile, "We don't want them to know that we're here."

"Too late!" A voice behind them growled. The four destined and three digimon turned around to see four short digimon with a metal star replacing their torsos and heads had surrounded them.

"What are those?" Eric muttered.

"Starmon." Tentomon replied.

"Fitting."

***

The four digidestined and their partners stood in the middle of a large crowd of angry champions, who were waiting anxiously for an event unknown to the digidestined to happen.

"This looks oddly familiar." Tai commented dryly.

"At least we're not tied up." T.K. replied.

"Excuse me, coming through, kind of need to confront these guys here." A voice in the crowd suddenly came closer towards them. Soon, a tall blue humanoid dragon digimon, with large white wings and a metal horn on his snout, made his way to the small clearing where the tamers had positioned themselves. "Well, when I heard there were humans here, I couldn't believe it, but here we have it, the nerve!" The digimon spoke at first in a lighthearted tone, but then switched to an angry voice as his obvious hatred of the four humans became apparent.

"Listen, uh..." Tai tried to step up to the digimon, but was at a loss as he quickly realized he had no idea what the creature was.

"I'm Ex-Veemon, and you'll do well to remember it!" The digimon yelled irritatedly.

"Right, Ex-Veemon, listen, I know what this looks like, but we're not the humans we think you are, we're-"

"Save it!" Ex-Veemon interrupted. "I know how manipulative you are, I've seen firsthand how destructive your lies are! Wait..." Something dawned on the digimon. "You're not, the same ones." Ex-Veemon backed away, confused.

"DemiVeemon?" Tentomon leaped on top of Eric's head, much to the boy's irritation.

"What?" The champion was confused. "I haven't been a DemiVeemon since I lived... Motimon?" Ex-Veemon was surprised.

"As you can see, it's Tentomon now!" Tentomon leaped from his partner's head, hovering in the air next to Ex-Veemon.

"Tentomon, you escaped!" Ex-Veemon hugged the insect strongly, and then saw the Salamon and Patamon in the group. "Huh, Nyaromon, Tokomon!" Ex-Veemon was overjoyed.

"Looks like someone knows you guys." Eric stated in surprise. "How fortunate."


	20. Tamers Advanced

**Chapter Twenty: Tamers Advanced**

Tai, Eric, T.K., and Kari followed behind the hulking champion, their three partners marching excitedly in between them. Ex-Veemon led the tamers and the crowd of wary digimon to a large cylindrical thatched hut sitting in the middle of the surprisingly large grass village. Ex-Veemon opened a cloth door hanging loosely on the outside of the hut, signaling the seven to enter. He raised his palm in front of the crowd of digimon, telling them to wait patiently outside of the structure. Ex-Veemon then ducked his head and entered the building, watching as the seven digidestined marveled at the very well built dipped floor with built in seats, a small stone water fountain built into one small corner of the meeting circle, with the figure of a Cherubimon sending a stream of water upwards from his mouth and spilling innocently into the pool at his feet. Within the circle, two digimon were already seated opposite them, a green humanoid lizard with basic natural clothing, which Salamon identified to the four tamers as a Dinohumon, and an old woman robed in heavy clothing, with her gray hair pulled back into a tight bun and her eyes and mouth seemingly sewn shut. None of the partners could identify this digimon.

"Please be seated children." Ex-Veemon pointed to the surprisingly comfortable dirt seats, where the seven digidestined sat next to each other, opposite the two judgmental digimon, who Ex-Veemon sat next to with a curious look upon his face. "Okay, before we begin, I want to warn you that Babamon here is a mega level digimon, and although she doesn't have the same strength that she had in her youth," Ex-Veemon's comment prompted a glare from the old digimon, "She still has enough strength and experience to easily kill you, so tread lightly. Now I can see that you're not the same children who terrorized File Island, and that you seem to have taken these old friends of mine as partners, but we still cannot be too careful when it comes to humans, after all they've done. So why don't you explain what you children are doing here."

"Tai," Eric nudged the boy next to him, signaling him to get up and address the three digimon.

"Maybe you should tell them, I don't think I should-"

"Come on Tai, I've gotten too much face time as it is, step up already." He pushed the boy again, who just stared down at the egg in his lap. "Come on Tai, I thought we were over this, Agumon's fine, well, relatively speaking-" T.K. stood up, surprising the group. He then explained everything that had happened over the last two weeks, in extreme detail. Starting with their arrival in the digital world and ending with the events of SkullGreymon and Rika and Izzy's departure from the group.

"That was surprisingly detailed, T.K." Eric observed.

"Honesty is the best policy," T.K. smiled and whispered, "If we tell them the truth, they might decide they don't need to destroy us."

"Why were you spying on us?" The scratchy voiced Babamon suddenly spoke, surprising the four tamers upon seeing that the stitches in her mouth were just for decoration.

"I'm sorry?" Eric responded.

"Why were you outside of our walls, spying on our actions, children?" Babamon's tone was quickly changing to an irritated one.

"We were just trying to find a way to come and meet you all without you trying to destroy us." Kari now stood up. "Ever since we arrived on Server, all of the digimon we've met have tried to destroy us, so we wanted to be cautious so we wouldn't end up on the execution block again, after what happened with Nanimon on File Island."

"It's very rude of you all to presume that we would be so barbaric." Dinohumon joined the conversation.

"Forgive me for being so blunt," Eric took over for T.K. and Kari, "But we haven't exactly had a warm welcome since we got here. In fact if it weren't for Leomon, we wouldn't be alive today. It's been a little hard to trust some of the digimon here, since it seems like every time one of you see us you want to destroy us."

"Fair enough," Ex-Veemon gained the focus of the four tamers and their partners, "The only problem I'm having with your story is that there's no way for us to think that it's anything but that- a story. How can we be sure you're telling the truth?" Ex-Veemon twirled around Tai's crest with his right index finger, which he had removed along with all of the other tamers' possessions, including their digivolution tools.

"You mean you can't trust us?" Tentomon replied. "You've been our friend for a long time, Ex-Veemon, you should be able to trust us."

"Gabumon was our friend as well, and you remember what happened to him." All of the digimon in the room reflected on Matt the digidestined, the tamer who survived Devimon's terror the longest before finally succumbing to the dark needle, while the tamers thought about Matt the brother, who T.K. desperately needed to find and save.

"But we're not the same as them," Tai replied amidst the silence, "We were never hit by the dark needles, and since them we've been trying our hardest to save this world-"

"But your teammate admitted that your inner darkness corrupted your partner, and digivolved him to a form that was so uncontrollable, that you had to destroy him!"

"Devimon had influenced me then, and I admit that it was my anger that let him out, but if it weren't for him then it would never have happened in the first place!" Tai was now in a furry, standing up to the tall blue digimon. Kari and Eric smiled, glad that Tai was now defending himself.

"That's another thing. You claim to have destroyed Devimon, but that's a task a that Ultimates themselves cannot do. How do you expect us to believe that one newly evolved ultimate easily defeated the enemy, that has been terrorizing us for the past two years?"

"It's different when we digivolve with the help of our partners!" Salamon came to Tai's side. "When the digivices and crests help us digivolve, we get stronger than we normally would than if we digivolved naturally."

"Please Ex-Veemon, you know that we're telling the truth," Patamon hovered above Tai, also joining into the plea. "You were one of our closest friends, and Elecmon didn't send you here so you could grow to hate us!"

"That's another thing," Ex-Veemon quieted down, "Where's Elecmon? Where's the brave rookie who took care of us as children?"

"We don't know," Tentomon replied solemnly. "He disappeared a while ago, a few days before these digidestined arrived on File Island."

"He wouldn't just abandon you like that, unless you had been poisoned by the dark needles." Ex-Veemon's curious attitude towards the group was rapidly developing into a rage.

"What can we do to convince you that we're on your side?" Tai inquired.

"You can give me some proof as to what your saying about destroying Devimon-" Ex-Veemon was interrupted when an Omekamon, a small metal digimon that looked like a group of children's toys crudely pasted together into a limbed creature resembling one of the digital world's protectors, burst into the room with an urgent message.

"Ex-Veemon!" The Omekamon announced in a panic.

"What is it Omekamon?" Ex-Veemon questioned the mini figure, irritated at the interuption.

"It's..." Omekamon scratched his head, "It was urgent, I can't seem to-"

"Dammit Omekamon, what's going on?"

"Oh right," Omekamon ran over to the blue dragon, bowing respectfully. "Sir, we've received word from the shore city."

"Word about what?" Ex-Veemon growled.

"Uh, oh," Omekamon scratched his head again, the blue wolf-like paper cover on his arm struggling to stay strapped to his arm using only the tape he had applied.

"Omekamon!" Omekamon staggered backwards, trying to remember.

"You're friend's really impatient." Eric commented quietly to his partner.

"Look at what he has to work with." Tai looked at the metal digimon, which resembled a toy building block figure, with different paper shapes attached to him. Three paper horns, two yellow and one blue, were taped loosely to the digimon's head, while a yellow horned face was taped to the digimon's other arm. A hexagon with a spiral on it and a spiked armor pad, both made of paper, were taped to his shoulders. Some blue and red lines were scribbled onto his chest.

"This guy's kind of..." T.K. trailed off, too perplexed by the strange site to continue his line of thought.

"It's rude to make fun of someone based solely on their appearance." Babamon growled behind them. The four destined turned around to face the old woman, who although they couldn't see her eyes, new she was glaring at them.

"We don't mean to make fun of him, it's just such an odd sight, the way he's dressed." Tai defended their observations poorly.

"Yeah there's nothing wrong with it, it's just... odd." Eric added.

"That digimon has shaped his image to reflect his hero, Omnimon." Babamon stated defensively.

"Who's Omnimon?" Kari piped.

"He's one of the rulers of this world, or at least, he used to be." Salamon replied, looking at Omekamon somberly as Ex-Veemon grilled the digimon, who was trying to remember what he had been sent in the room to say. "They say he's stronger than any Mega, and together with the rest of the Royal Knights they protected the digital world from evil."

"The Royal Knights?" T.K. was now extremely interested in the conversation.

"I'm surprised your partners never discussed this with you before," Babamon interrupted, "The Royal Knights emerged a very long time ago, and swore to protect our world from the forces of darkness."

"If they were supposed to protect this world from evil, then what happened? How did Devimon come to be if they were supposed to protect this world?" His question partially offended Babamon and Dinohumon.

"Does it have anything to do with the dark beacon, what happened to them?" Eric asked the old mega. "I heard Meramon mention it, but he didn't go into any real detail."

"That's exactly what happened to them." Babamon replied. "See, about five years ago, the dark beacon appeared out of nowhere. This dark aura swept over the digital world, reverting any digimon at the champion level or above to digi-eggs, and knocking all of the rookie and in-training digimon to their baby forms. It was tragic, as the baby digimon did not possess the strength to restore order to the world. This allowed Devimon to appear on File Island three years later." Babamon seemed to have convinced herself that the four humans were of no threat.

"So this dark beacon reduced the Royal Knights to their digi-egg forms, so there wasn't anyone to stop Devimon when he appeared." Tai observed.

"Exactly."

"Do you think Devimon could have created the dark beacon, so the Royal Knights wouldn't interfere with his plans to take over the world?" Eric questioned.

"That's the popular theory, but it doesn't really add up. A champion wouldn't have the power to weaken Mega level digimon to digi-eggs, they simply wouldn't have the power, no matter what abilities they possessed. No, I think someone else did it for him."

"You mean Devimon was working for somebody?" Tai observed.

"Right again boy."

"You're being awfully trusting by telling us this information." Eric said to Babamon. "Why do you suddenly trust us now?"

"I have the unique ability to read the minds of digimon," Babamon smiled, surprising everyone in the circle except for Dinohumon. "I've been able to sense the thoughts and feelings of your digimon partners for a while now. Besides, I dug deep into Omekamon's mind and discovered his message."

"I've got it!" Omekamon announced victoriously, much to the surprise of Ex-Veemon. "The message came from Meramon himself. Devimon's been destroyed by a group of new human children. The demon's gone- oh, check that out." Omekamon looked at the four humans sitting in the circle.

"Wow, you've got to love coincidences." Kari muttered.

"Are you sure?" Ex-Veemon asked, taken aback.

"Yes, why?" Omekamon was staring oddly at the four digidestined in the circle.

"Because you don't have the greatest attention span, that's why!" Ex-Veemon yelled at the toy, who quickly came back into attention.

"Sorry sir." Omekamon snapped back in front of the champion. Ex-Veemon sighed, rubbing his jaw in exhaustion.

"Omekamon, you're going to be the death of me, but thank you." Ex-Veemon turned around. "You're dismissed." He started walking back towards the pit. "We'll I seem to have gotten my proof, haven't I-" Omekamon interrupted the digimon before he could finish.

"Oh, sir!"

"What is it Omekamon?" Ex-Veemon sighed.

"I think there was something else I was supposed to tell you. It, uh, yeah, it was a lot more important than what I just told you now." Omekamon started scratching his head. "Now what was it?"

"Omekamon, please focus!" Ex-Veemon growled at the digimon, who snapped his arm back down in revelation. "Oh, that's right, General Shellmon needs to see you at the north wall."

"Omekamon, this better not be too important." Ex-Veemon stormed out of the hut, leaving Omekamon to ponder the seen inside.

"So... you guys the ones that destroyed Devimon?" Omekamon smiled.

"Uh huh." Tai nodded.

"Wow, so you guys are like, heroes aren't you?"

"Omekamon, perhaps you should go with Ex-Veemon to see what's going on on the northern wall." Babamon suggested irritatedly.

"Oh I already know what's going on up there."

"What?" Babamon and Dinohumon shot up in anger. "Why didn't you tell Ex-Veemon?"

"It escaped me." Omekamon replied dryly. Babamon and Dinohumon stared at the metal digimon for a few seconds before finally screaming at him in unison.

"What's going on up on the northern wall?"

"Oh, there's a Zudomon who's on a rampage in the forest, attacking any digimon that gets close to it."

"Damn it Omekamon!" Dinohumon zoomed out of the hut.

"Omekamon, we all love you but sometimes you can be so absent minded you bonehead! Now go to the northern wall and help Ex-Veemon!" Babamon instructed.

"Yes ma'am." Omekamon departed from the hut.

"Babamon, we'd like to help you if that's all right." Kari questioned the aged digimon.

"Of course, I wouldn't dream of keeping you locked up, your digivices and crests are all in that bowl over there," Babamon pointed to a bowl sitting next to where Dinohumon was sitting previously with the short broom she kept with her. "However Ex-Veemon still holds onto yours," She pointed to Tai, "Hurry up now." She slid out of the hut, faster than the four digidestined would imagine she could move.

"Let's get a move on," Tai announced as he ran to the bowl and pulled his digivice out. "Depending on what a Zudomon is, they might need help."

"I think a Zudomon is an ultimate, if I'm not mistaken." Tentomon announced, "Some Zudomon delivered supplies to File Island before the evil tamers arrived, so we saw them on a regular basis surfing towards the island."

"Then they're definitely going to need help," said Tai, "Let's get going!"

***

"Shellmon, what's the status on the Zudomon?" Ex-Veemon questioned the general, who was stationed on a large, well-supported platform that overlooked the forest. The extremely large digimon, a pink dragon-like creature with a huge spiral and spiked shell covering the lower half of his body, looked down at his leader from the tall structure.

"So Omekamon actually filled you in?" He joked.

"No, he just told me you needed me up here, I had to find out from a Birdramon in passing." Ex-Veemon growled, thinking about how much faster he would have came if he knew all the facts from the beginning. "But it's not important, what's going on with the ultimate?"

"Nothing good. We spotted him trashing the forest a few miles back. We sent a Ninjamon to negotiate with him, but he just slammed his hammer at our man, so he was forced to retreat. And now, as you can see..." Shellmon decided not to finish, as Ex-Veemon was now hovering next to the sea dragon, staring at the angry digimon not 500 feet from the outer wall. A group of Starmon were trying to hold him back, with little success.

"So what do you suggest General?"

"I think we need to send all able bodied digimon to go and fight the Zudomon. If it won't listen to reason, then we'll have no choice but to destroy it."

"Sadly, I agree. Sound the alarm, I'll-"

"Wait Ex-Veemon," A soft yet shrill voice behind him stopped the champion from giving the order. He turned around to see Babamon and the four digimon tamers standing behind her.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Ex-Veemon, let us help you." Tai announced to the dragon. "We can take him on better than you can."

"You'll understand if I'm just a little skeptical about that."

"Listen to them Ex-Veemon." Babamon began. "You know as well as I do that a full scale assault on the digimon will cost many lives, and in my old age I am not fit to fight any digimon much stronger than a champion. They however, have the strength and will to stop Zudomon before he can reach our walls."

"Yes, you're right. Do you still wish to help children?" Ex-Veemon turned to the three boys and girl. They all nodded. "Then please step this way." Ex-Veemon flew over to part of the wall and opened a hidden door, which they could view Zudomon more clearly from. "We'll fight him together!"

"I'll help too!" Omekamon emerged from wherever he was before.

"Uh, are you sure about that?" Tai asked nervously.

"Don't worry, Omekamon may be absent minded but when it comes to battles, there are few digimon who can out match him." Babamon defended the champion, who was already running towards the gate.

"Alright, let's go." Eric took over. "Tai, you'd better wait here, there's not much you can do until Agumon hatches from his digi-egg."

"I know, just take care of my sister, okay?"

"I think your sister has the ability to take care of herself much better than I can." Eric nodded his head at Kari, who along with T.K., Patamon, and Salamon, had run towards the gate. "Remember, she's the only one of us who can digivolve her partner to ultimate right now. In fact, she's probably the key to winning this battle!" Eric ran towards the gate with Tentomon. "She'll be fine Tai, don't worry!"

"Good luck Kari," Tai muttered to himself as he watched the three digidestined and their two new digimon allies run into the battle.

"Okay, so do any of you have a plan?" Ex-Veemon asked the three children under him.

"Well usually we just digivolve our partners and go from there." T.K. responded.

"And you've gotten this far that way?" Ex-Veemon asked with concerned.

"I'm okay with a little orderless battling, to be honest." Omekamon smiled.

"We probably shouldn't wait too long to come up with something either, I don't think those Starmon can hold Zudomon off for much longer." Eric reasoned.

"Okay, then for now, we digimon will join the battle, and you three try to think of some way to stop Zudomon strategically." Ex-Veemon suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." T.K. nodded.

"We can do that. Ready Tentomon?" Eric looked at his insect partner, who was poised for battle.

"Let's get this crest working this time, shall we?" Tentomon jumped towards the battle, Ex-Veemon, Omekamon, and Patamon after him.

**"Tentomon digivolve to... Kabuterimon!"**

**"Patamon digivolve to... Angemon!"** The three humans watched as the four digimon rushed towards the battle.

"Are you good to go, Salamon?" Kari asked the cat-dog next to her.

"I'm all fueled up Kari." She nodded as Kari's digivice and crest began to glow brightly.

**"Salamon, warp digivolve to... Angewomon!"** The ultimate then nodded to her partner before flying off towards the battle.

"That's a neat trick, warp digivolution." Eric commented.

"I think Koromon did that before, when he warp digivolved to Greymon." T.K. replied.

"Oh, you're right, I guess it just wasn't as memorable."

"Vulcan's Hammer!" Zudomon swung his heavy metal mallet into the ground, sending beams of arrow shaped energy speeding towards the five new digimon who had entered the brawl. Angewomon quickly leaped to the front, ready to defend.

"Heaven's Charm!" The familiar energized cross appeared in the sky, deflecting the attack. The four Starmon had decided to take refuge behind the ultimate angel while she defended the attack.

"Starmon, all of you go back to the village and recover, we'll handle this!" Ex-Veemon instructed his soldiers, who nodded before returning back the way the five new digimon had come from. "Okay, now what should we do?"

"I can keep his attention for a while," Angewomon replied, "That could give you four enough time to position yourselves around Zudomon, then we can all attack simultaneously for a grand attack."

"Good idea, I'll take his left flank."

"I'll get above him," Kabuterimon added, "The light will disguise me since I'm such a big target."

"I can get behind him relatively quickly." Angemon added.

"So that just leaves the right flank for me, got it." Omekamon agreed. The four digimon behind Angewomon nodded, and then took off with lightning speed in their separate directions. Angewomon kept the mega-turtle's eyes trained on her as Kabuterimon and Angemon flew into the sky, masked by the bright light of the sun. Kabuterimon kept his position directly above Zudomon, while Angemon quietly slipped into the forest behind the ultimate. Ex-Veemon and Omekamon had little problems getting to the two sides of him.

"Are you just going to block me all day?" Zudomon laughed, raising his hammer again, ready to strike, "Well I guess if you're really that stupid!" Zudomon pulled his hammer down, sending the energized arrows at Angewomon's cross shield once again. She deflected it once again, and once the attack was over, she dissipated her shield as Zudomon rose his hammer for another attack. "Vulcan's-"

"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon quickly prepared her attack, the others around Zudomon doing the same.

"Graffiti Rocket!" The voice to Zudomon's right announced.

"V-Laser!" The left voice boomed.

"Electro-Shocker!" Came the familiar ring of Kabuterimon from above.

"Hand of Fate!" The angel opposite Angewomon announced. Unknown to them, Zudomon was prepared. As the five attacks rocketed towards him, Zudomon had just enough time to pull his entire body into the massive spiked shell that covered his back. The five attacks bounced harmlessly away.

"How did he defend against that so quickly?" Angewomon said, stunned.

"That's amazing that he would have that sort of agility." Eric observed from the sidelines. "A turtle creature like that shouldn't have been able to react so quickly to the attack, unless he knew about it before hand." Eric looked into the forest with a suspicious eye.

"What are you thinking?" Kari asked.

"His voice does sound a little like Ikkakumon," Eric whispered to himself.

"What's going on?" T.K. inquired.

"T.K., come with me. Kari, keep back and try to make sure no one sneaks up on any of our allies out there." Eric grabbed T.K.'s arm and started running towards the forest to their right.

"Like who?" She called after him.

"Anybody, just make sure no one gets behind any of them without them knowing it!" Eric called back as he and T.K. disappeared into the forest.

"What's going on Eric?" T.K. asked the boy who was pulling him deeper into the forest, although at a much slower pace than he was going initially.

"When me, Tai, and Rika were imprisoned in the Citadel, we realized that the dungeon was right under the evil tamers' training arena."

"How did you figure that out?"

"We heard voices really clearly coming up from above us, and there was a lot of fighting going on as well. Tai recognized Joe's voice when we were down there."

"Joe? You mean the same Joe who-"

"Right, and we figured out who his partner was as well. It was some digimon named Gomamon, who digivolved into Ikkakumon. Judging from the attacks it used, and the way it used the water in the arena to its advantage-"

"How did you know it was water?"

"The roof leaked- a lot. Anyway, we figured out that it was a water digimon."

"How is that important?"

"Ikkakumon has the same gruff voice as Zudomon does."

"So, why would that-" T.K. suddenly realized what Eric was saying. "All of the evil digidestined have their crests."

"So it probably wouldn't be too hard for an evil tamer to do the inverse of his crest quality, digivolving their partner."

"So Joe might be around this forest somewhere, and he gave a heads up to Zudomon somehow about the attack."

"That's why Zudomon was able to defend so fast. If he didn't know the attack was coming, he wouldn't have had enough time to fully defend himself and the attacks would have hit him."

"So we have to find Joe." T.K. then realized just how quiet it had gotten, and that he and Eric were whispering.

"But we also have to watch out and see if there are any other evil digidestined or their partners out here, ready to flank us at a moment's notice."

"So that's why you had Kari stay behind."

"Right."

"So why didn't you just tell us about this before?"

"There wasn't enough time, we need to find Joe as soon as possible so we can gain the advantage."

"What are we going to do once we find him?"

"Have you ever played poker T.K.?"

"I'm eight, and what does that have to do with anything?"

"T.K., we're going to bluff our way to victory."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, this might get a little violent." Eric trekked through the thick forest, careful not to step on any branches or brush against too many tree or bush limbs.

"So where are we going?"

"I'm getting us directly behind the battle, by a few dozen feet though, so we can get behind Joe so he won't see us looking for him." The two suddenly came upon a lane of toppled trees.

"This is where Zudomon smashed through the forest."

"Right, be careful and quiet, we don't want to warn anybody that might be out here." Eric moved just a little bit into the cleared forest alley. "Keep to the edges of the trees so no one sees us." T.K. nodded, placing himself on the inside of the tree line they had just come out of.

"I'm going to go on the other side of the clearing and start searching that tree line. If you see Joe, wave to me from the other side, I'll do the same so you keep an eye on my side of the forest as well." Eric started to slowly walk to the other side of the trail left by Zudomon.

"What if Joe sees me though?" T.K. whispered.

"Scream as loud as possible, and if he claps his hand over your mouth, bite him so you can scream. I'll be right on him in an instant." Eric made his way to the other side of the clearing, ducking behind the bent trees on that side. T.K. was relieved when he saw that Eric wasn't totally invisible over there, and that he could see his shadow scurrying through the forest as both boy's moved forward. He continuously switched his gaze from Eric's tree line to the forest in front of him, searching for Joe while keeping an eye on Eric the whole time.

As they continued to get closer to Zudomon, who was still in his vicious battle with the five digimon, T.K. began to worry that they might have passed Joe's position. He also began to worry that the closer they got to Zudomon, the more likely Zudomon was to notice him. He wished Izzy and Rika were still here, so one of them could have done this instead of him, but he knew that under the circumstances that he was the only one for the job. Eric couldn't drag Kari out into the woods like this, she wouldn't be safe. T.K. at least had a chance if he encountered Joe.

He looked over at Eric, who had a sad yet determined look on his face. T.K. realized that Eric felt the same thing, regretting having to pull T.K. into this ambush, but also realized there was no other way. He continued to look forward, scanning the jungle-like forest in front of him for any signs of the evil digidestined. A quick movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He quickly twisted to his left and examined the forest. There was nothing. He sighed, attributing the movement to illusions and nerves, and kept on walking, when he heard a twig snap behind him.

T.K. didn't have time to turn around as he was grabbed from behind by the tall and lanky thirteen year old digidestined who had once sacrificed himself for Kari's safety. He clasped his hand over T.K.'s mouth, gripping tightly so T.K. couldn't bite at his hand. T.K. tried to scream out to Eric, but his voice was too muffled by the boy's mouth to make any serious noise. He tried flailing his arms, but Joe's grip on the boy was too tight, and he couldn't get any real movement. His last resort was his legs, which were free, so he began to flail them about. J

Joe quickly twisted around so the boy on the other side of the cleared trail could not see the struggling boy. T.K. then tried to kick Joe in the groin, but Joe anticipated the attack, after hearing about what the young boy did to Henry, and wrapped one leg around the other while balancing on a tree. T.K.'s legs harmlessly attacked Joe's irregularly strong thigh.

"You're not going anywhere T.K.," Joe whispered in the boy's ear, who began to whimper. He struggled even harder to free himself from the boy's grip, but Joe was just too strong for him, he began to cry as he realized there was no hope of escaping the teenager's deathly grip. "It's interesting T.K.," Joe again began to whisper in the boy's ear, "It looks like this time, I'll be your executioner, and I won't screw up like Devimon did." T.K.'s eyes widened with fear as he quickly realized what Joe was planning to do to him.


	21. The Death of Hope

**Chapter Twenty One: The Death of Hope**

T.K. breathed heavily, trying to make as much noise as possible to alert the boy across the clearing. Joe however, just smiled evilly before placing a finger over T.K.'s nostrils, preventing him from making any more noises. T.K. then began to cry, not a sob or a whine, just a stream of tears as Joe moved his arm upwards so that it wrapped around T.K. just under his shoulders. Before T.K. could react, Joe had squeezed tightly yet softly. T.K. was at first confused by the maneuver, but quickly realized its purpose as he began to lose feeling in his feet and hands. The senselessness quickly rose up his limbs, stopping where Joe had initially attacked, so that the only thing that T.K. had the physical ability to move (but could not due to Joe's restriction) was his neck. Apparently, Joe had learned some new techniques under Devimon's employ.

"I'm sorry I have to do this T.K.," Joe whispered in the boy's ear as she set him on the ground. T.K., unable to control his legs, slumped to his knees, and began to fall backwards before landing softly on Joe's knee. T.K.'s arms now hung from the rest of his limp body uselessly. T.K. tried desperately to twitch one muscle in his lower body, but it was no use. "I just want you to know that it's nothing that you did. You're just in the way with Angemon as your partner. We can't take the chance that you might get him to digivolve, because that would just not help our cause." Joe continued to whisper, wary of the tamer in the forest on the other side of the alley.

"It's not going to hurt, I promise you." He raised his right hand in front of T.K.'s head, grasping the boy's forehead. He then raised his left hand and wrapped his palm around the back of the young boy's head, pushing the backwards baseball cap off of the boy to get a better grip. "It's going to be really quick, you'll barely feel anything." T.K. could feel the dark aura of Devimon and the dark needle radiating from Joe, it's evil driving the teens' every move. "You're just a little kid, which makes this so sad since you don't really know anything, which is why we have to get you out of the way. Your friend on the other hand..." He took a glance back at Eric, who was partially hidden behind a tree 50 feet from them. "He could be useful in dealing with the rest of the tamers. You should never have come here T.K., you're just no match for us." Joe's voice became just a little higher. He sighed, and then tensed his biceps. T.K. whimpered one last time. "It'll all be over soon T.K, for you and your friends." Joe began to rotate his arms.

"You sure about that?" A voice behind Joe surprised the boy, giving him no time to react before a blunt point slammed into the lanky child's throat. The jugular attack shocked Joe, who released T.K. from his neck-snapping grip. The young boy's upper body fell to the ground, cushioned by the layer of leaves under him. Behind him, Joe gagged violently. He tried to his something as he watched the flat but tight hand pull away from him, returning to the side of a digidestined standing partially behind the tree Joe had stationed himself at. Joe found he could not talk, however. Eric's vicious attack had struck the boy's vocal cords, rendering his calls to his partner useless. Apparently, Eric had some special skills of his own.

Joe staggered up, stumbling away from Eric, who walked towards him with a furious but quiet look on his face. Joe growled, or at least his attempt at a growl, before balling a fist and tossing it at Eric, who, anticipating the attack, grabbed the boy's fist and pulled the arm attached to it towards him, allowing Eric to drive his own fist into the boy's chest. Joe tried to scream with pain, to no avail, as Eric twisted the boy around, then raised his arm and elbowed the tall boy in the back of the neck. Joe gagged again as he fell to the earth, losing all consciousness and all hope of winning this battle. Eric, lowered his arm back to his side, and then dropped the hating face in favor of one of worry, coming to T.K.'s side.

"T.K.!" Eric whispered loudly, lifting the limp boy up. "T.K, are you okay?" He asked with partial tears in his eyes.

"He... he tried... to kill... me...." T.K. barely had the ability to talk.

"I know T.K., I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to put you through that." He held the boy tightly, quickly realizing that something was wrong with his stance. "What did he do to you?"  
"I can't move... my body..." Tears of sadness and joy now filled T.K.'s eyes as Eric raised the boy's hand up to discover the cause of his paralysis.

"It looks like he put you entire body to sleep," Eric said in anger and in awe. "Your body will wake up in a minute, you just have to try to move. It's just like when you fall asleep on your arm, it'll be fine."

"Why did he... try to kill me?" T.K. asked again in shock from the traumatizing event.

"T.K. I'm so sorry, I never thought he'd stoop to trying to kill a little kid," Eric leaned the eight year old against the tree that had been the center of events. T.K. slowly began to regain the use of his arms, realizing that the attack of Joe was wearing off. "I'm so sorry T.K." Eric's constant apologetic attitude drifted T.K.'s focus from the unconscious body of Joe, who had tried to assassinate the boy moments before.

"You don't have to keep apologizing," T.K. said, with little emotion. Amazingly, the trauma of the event had begun to wear away from T.K.'s mind, the fact that they captured Joe now beginning to conquer his thoughts.

"Sorry T.K. it's just-" T.K. gave him an annoyed glance. "Right... are you okay?" The young boy nodded partially. "Good." Eric then turned to the unconscious boy to his left. "I can't believe he would try something so dirty. That dark needle must really be working him over." Eric stood up and walked over to him. "It's hard to believe that the same person who sacrificed their free will just to save a little girl would turn out to be such a vicious monster when under the influences of darkness." He grabbed the boy's torso, slinging one of his arms over his shoulder, so he could carry him. "Are you sure you're going to be alright?" He gave the eight year old a serious glance.

"I'll be fine, I just don't want to think about it anymore." He started walking forwards, towards the same path they had taken to get to the spot. Eric followed, allowing the boy to walk in front of him and receive a few minutes of comforting silence. As they walked however, while T.K.'s mind was focused on blocking the horrid event from his mind, it was all Eric could think about. How could he have been so stupid, dragging a young boy into the middle of the woods to hunt down an evil psychopath. His reckless actions had almost gotten someone killed, again. This time, however, it wasn't a digimon who could come back as a digi-egg. This time it was an eight year-old child with his whole life ahead of him. What if he hadn't made it in time? What if he hadn't stopped Joe's attack? What if T.K. had died?

***

"What's going on out there?" Tai asked Shellmon, who was watching the battle intensely.

"Well, Zudomon did seem to have the upper hand for a while. He kept withdrawing into his shell before everyone could get an attack, but now he seems to have gotten slower and less attentive."

"How's Kari?"

"Who?"

"Kari, my little sister."

"Oh, the human girl? She's fine, hanging near the back of the wall, out of the way of the battle."

"Okay, good. Maybe I should go out there, they might need me."

"The digimon seem to be handling themselves just fine Taichi," The Babamon standing next to Shellmon told the human, "I don't think there's any need to go out into a situation that you have no control over. Besides, didn't you volunteer to stay behind?"

"Yeah, but now I'm just a little concerned. I hate sitting here doing nothing."

"I guess your friends felt the same way."

"What do you mean?"

"The two boy's, Eric and T.K., they ran off into the forest a little while ago. I don't know what they were doing, but I imagine it had something to do with reconnaissance."

"They just left Kari out there by herself?" Tai yelled as he ran towards the door.

"Boy, what's your problem?" Babamon called as he opened the large wooden door that separated him from the forest. "Fine, don't answer." Babamon turned back to the battle, watching as Angewomon dealt an effective Celestial Arrow at Zudomon's chest.

"Kari!" Tai ran to his sister, who was standing near the wall, a few hundred feet behind where the battle was taking place. "You okay?" He skidded to a halt in the loose dirt, almost letting Agumon's egg slip out of his grasp.

"Yeah Tai I'm fine." She replied in confusion. "Why?"

"I can't believe Eric would leave you here by yourself." Tai growled to himself, now staring out into the forest instead of talking to Kari.

"I'm fine Tai. Eric just wanted to go see if there was anyway he could help all the digimon out there."

"Then why did he leave you here? Why did he drag T.K. into the forest and leave you here with no one to protect you?"

"I'm not exactly in a lot of danger Tai," Kari replied in annoyance, "And he wanted me to stay here to make sure no one tried to attack the digimon from behind."

"Like who?"

"I don't know, but I think Eric has his suspicions."

"So why did he drag T.K. out there, why didn't he leave him here with you?"

"I guess he needed him for something."

"Why am I the only one bothered by this?"

"I think you just worry too much." Kari smiled at her brother, who let out a sigh.

***

"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon snapped another arrow from her golden bow, letting the attack glide into Zudomon's chest and exploding on impact. Zudomon jerked backwards in pain, then let out a scream of anger for letting the four champions distract him while Angewomon performed her attack.

"Keep it up men, we're wearing him down!" Angewomon rose above Zudomon, joining Angemon in the air. Kabuterimon, Ex-Veemon, and Omekamon were circling the ultimate to disorient him.

"It appears we are winning." Angemon stated.

"Don't count your eggs before they hatch Angemon, this battle's far from over."

"Then may I suggest we try to speed things up?" Angemon raised his fist, the familiar bright white glow surrounding his clenched fingers.

"A combined attack, good move."

"A double attack from two angels, no less." Angemon nodded to Angewomon, who formed a golden bow upon the champion's request. Together they fired their heavenly attacks at Zudomon's head, who's arms and eyes were trained on the three digimon circling him.

"Celestial Arrow!"

"Hand of Fate!" Angemon's beam of energy streamed into Angewomon's shining arrow, transforming both attacks into a fiery meteor of power. At the last second Zudomon heard the attack speeding above him, and lifted his head up to see the the meteor come down on him. He quickly pulled his mallet over his head, trying to block the attack. He was successful, but the force of the beam shattered his metallic hammer, giving him just enough time to jump away before the rest of the attack crashed into the earth where he once stood.

"Electro-Shocker!"

"Graffiti Rocket!"

"V-Laser!" Kabuterimon, Omekamon, and Ex-Veemon fired their attacks towards Zudomon immediately after Angemon and Angewomon's strike. Zudomon quickly pulled his body into his shell, barely flipping himself upwards so that the attacks hit his shell instead of his underbelly before they impacted with extreme force. Zudomon was twirled around from the attacks, tossing up tons of dust and dirt in the process.

Dammit Joe, you're supposed to be covering me, Zudomon thought to himself within his shell. Why won't you warn me about these attacks, I'm on the edge here, where are you? He pulled his legs and arms outwards, standing up and shaking the dust off of him. Wait, did something happen to Joe? Zudomon twisted around, looking down the alley of shattered trees he had created and where his partner was hiding. Damn, while I was dealing with these losers their allies were taking out my team. "I'm coming Joe!" Zudomon began to run down the alley he had come from.

"Hey, we're not done with you yet!" Angewomon jumped in front of Zudomon, blocking his escape. "First you're going to tell us why you were trying to attack this village, then-"

"Get out of my way!" Zudomon jumped towards her, trying to shove the humanoid digimon away so he could get down the alley.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" She began to form the Heaven's Charm in her palm.

"I said, GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Zudomon slammed his fist into the angel, who, strangely surprised by the attack, had no time to defend herself. She spiraled to the ground, crippled by the sudden strike.

"Angemon!" Kabuterimon and Angemon yelled together as they too jumped in front of Zudomon. "You won't get away with that- Electro-Shocker! Hand of Fate!" Zudomon pulled his head down so that the attacks bounced harmlessly off of his shell. He then pulled his head up quickly, head butting Angemon and Kabuterimon, who were knocked into the forest beside him.

"Well this just got ugly really quickly!" Ex-Veemon retorted as he and Omekamon regrouped behind the angry ultimate.

"We should just let him go sir, that way we'll have some time to regroup."

"But what if he brings reinforcements? Go tell Shellmon to summon any fighters available to fight, I'll hold him off."

"But-"

"No 'buts' Omekamon, just go do it!"

"Yes sir, and good luck." Omekamon began running (or at least his clumsy version or running) towards the city to carry out Ex-Veemon's orders.

***

"Angewomon!" Kari called to her partner as Zudomon smashed his fist into her. "No!" Kari tried to run towards her, but then thought against it, ceasing Tai's need to grasp the girl's shoulder in protest. "How did he get so powerful so fast?" Kari asked in concern as they watched the turtle knock out Angemon and Kabuterimon.

"Crap, this isn't good." Tai commented as he watched Zudomon drag himself into the forest, back the way he came.

"Maybe he'll just leave and stop bothering the city." Kari suggested with hope.

"I doubt it, he'll probably just rally up his buddies and come at us again. I've learned that Digimon rarely attack for no reason, nor do they like to give up after they've been defeated." Kari was no longer paying attention to him, however.

"T.K., Eric!" She cheered to the two boys as they came out of the forest. Tai turned to them not with happiness, but with anger, towards Eric anyway. Both of their expressions quickly changed to confusion and concern as they spotted the disturbed look on T.K.'s face, and the familiar blue haired boy hanging off of Eric's shoulder. "Joe?" Kari and Tai ran up to the two other boys, eager to figure out what was going on."

"Okay T.K., I'll handle this next part, just stay with Kari and Tai." Eric began to walk away from the group before they even joined up, prompting no emotion from T.K. but surprised looks from Kari and Tai as they met up with T.K.

"Hey! I need to talk to you!" Tai yelled to the thirteen year old.

"Not now Tai." Eric replied dryly as he walked towards Zudomon. "In a minute." Tai, and Kari stared in confusion as Eric walked up behind Zudomon, who was a few dozen feet into the destroyed forest alley now. "Hey Zudomon!" He screamed to the digimon, who had just knocked away Ex-Veemon with little trouble. Zudomon slowly turned his head to see what the nuisance was, then seeing Eric with the ultimate's partner on his back, quickly spun around, knocking over a mass of trees as he did so. "You looking for somebody?" Eric glared at the digimon with half a smile on his face as Kabuterimon dragged himself out of the forest to come to his partner's side.

"What's going on?" Kabuterimon asked, now seeing the teen slumped over Eric's shoulder.

"Take him for me, will you?" Eric's request was answered by two replies, as Kabuterimon grasped the boy in his palm, while Zudomon growled in opposition.

"Let him go!" Zudomon started stomping towards the two.

"I don't think you should be the one making any demands." Eric replied, stealing a glance at Kabuterimon and winking for a second, to the surprise but then understanding of the large beetle.

"Don't you dare presume to control this situation-" Zudomon began to yell as he stomped towards them.

"Take one more step and see what Kabuterimon does to your partner." Eric's statement drew a gasp from Zudomon and two of the humans behind him.

"What is he...?" Kari began to mutter to herself in worry.

"He's not going to do anything to him." T.K. told the two before they could express their worries. "He's just bluffing."

"I'm warning you boy, let him go-" Zudomon continued his angry rage.

"No I'm warning you Zudomon." Eric stated calmly.

"You're bluffing." Zudomon growled.

"You willing to take that chance?" Upon those words, Kabuterimon tightened his grip on the boy.

"I can easily destroy that partner of yours."

"True, but can you do it before Kabuterimon takes out _your_ partner?" These words stung Kari a little. Zudomon growled again, backing up a bit.

"I, uh..."

"De-digivolve now."

"What?"

"De-digivolve so you won't be able to cause any more damage."

"I'll just be able to digivolve again later you fool!"

"Not without Joe's digivice and crest." Upon these words, T.K. raised his fist and waved the digivice and crest in his palm. Zudomon flinched, thinking for a second to go after T.K.

"Go after anyone here and you can say goodbye to Joe." Eric's bluff was a little too convincing.

"I don't believe you would do that to your fellow human being." Zudomon replied in desperation.

"Like I said before, are you willing to take that chance?" Zudomon entered a 30 second staring contest with the boy, before finally conceding defeat. Zudomon sighed and then let a dark light wash over him. Within a few seconds, the small, fish-seal Gomamon now stood where the monstrous Zudomon had just been.

***

"You bastard!" Gomamon struggled to free himself from the tight grip Tentomon had him in. Upon hearing Eric reassure Kari that he was never going to even consider hurting Joe, Gomamon had entered a violent rage. "You're a damn liar!"

"And you're an idiot." Tentomon stated victoriously.

"I can't believe I fell for something so obviously false!" Gomamon was struggling violently, much to Tentomon's discomfort.

"Well you shouldn't have." Eric said, to the surprise of the seal, "I don't have the nerve or a heart cold enough to do something like that to someone who has absolutely no control over his own actions. Tentomon, is there any reason why he's not in the cell yet?" Eric asked in an irritated yet relieved tone.

"I thought we could have a little bit more fun with him first." Tentomon smiled.

"I wouldn't call that fun," Nyaromon stated angrily from Kari's arms.

"Neither would I," Ex-Veemon grabbed the rookie by the neck, who had stopped his violent thrashing in favor of a quiet attitude, "Let's just get this weasel locked up." Ex-Veemon tossed the Gomamon into the small steel cage, closing and locking the bars that now separated the once superior digimon from his conquerors. "Okay children, come with me. We have much to talk about." Ex-Veemon started walking down the hallway that lined the prison cells of the building. They all walked solemnly: Ex-Veemon and Omekamon out of exhaustion, Kari out of concern for Joe, T.K. from the terrible ordeal he had just faced, Eric from the knowledge of what almost happened to T.K. because of him, and Tai out of anger. As they passed the cell that the unconscious Joe was lying in, Kari stopped.

"Kari, what is it?" Tai asked his sister.

"Joe- we caught him, so does that mean we're going to be able to get the dark needle out of him?" She asked sadly.

"Of course Kari, that's what we came here to do, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?" Ex-Veemon interrupted them. "You aren't thinking of showing this evil tamer mercy, are you?"

"They used to be regular people," Tai responded, "They didn't do anything wrong until Devimon took control of them. We're going to get the dark needles out of them and then take them back to the human world." Ex-Veemon was initially shocked at this, but seeing the logic, conceded to Tai, and then walked towards the exit.

"We can help your friends later, right now you and your partners should get some rest." Tai pushed Kari along, continuing the train of digimon and humans out of the prison, through the village where random digimon stared at the humans with hatred, curiosity, and happiness, and to the village center where Babamon and Dinohumon waited in the center meeting pit. Everyone took a seat in the circle, Tai positioning himself next to the Cherubimon fountain so he could place Agumon's egg down in a comfortable place, placed in between the seat and the fountain. They all sat in silence for a few minutes before Ex-Veemon finally stood up in the center of the circle and began to speak.

"You helped us," Ex-Veemon began, "You helped us when you had no reason to. You defeated Zudomon and the evil tamer and handed both of them over to us willingly. Combined with that and the information that Babamon has given me, I see no reason to not trust you." The four digidestined sighed in relief after hearing this.

"Now that that's been said, I have something to ask of you." He cleared his throat. "In a few weeks, we will be mounting an attack against the evil tamers' base, which we discovered the location of sometime ago. We would like you to stay here in this village and help us prepare for the battle and put an end to the hell that this world has been put through for the past two years." The four digidestined were shocked at Ex-Veemon's request, as the key to stopping the evil digidestined, which they had been trying to do for the past two weeks, was suddenly lain in front of them.


	22. I Fall to Pieces

Okay, now before you read this super long chapter, you must realize that this chapter was supposed to be chapter twenty, but my imagination has been running wild, so it kept getting postponed. I did not want to have to chop this chapter into two parts, because for reasons that only I understand, chapter twenty-two was supposed to be an important chapter, so that is why I wanted to include the events of this chapter at the end. Okay, that's enough of non-sense making crap. Enjoy.

**Chapter Twenty Two: I Fall to Pieces**

Tai let out a deep yawn as he lay on the wooden bench, the fall breeze washing over him and his partner, who was resting on his stomach. Why wont you hatch Agumon? He thought to himself. I know I screwed up badly, but I thought you forgave me when you came back as a digi-egg. Is there something else I need to do? I wish you would answer me, it's been over two weeks already.

Tai's thoughts drifted to the past two weeks they had spent in Shichiri Village. After Ex-Veemon had asked them to stay in the village and help them prepare for the assault on the evil tamers' hideout, the four tamers had broken away from the circle to discuss what to do. Concerned for Rika and Izzy, the four discussed it with Ex-Veemon and convinced the dragon to send out a convoy of digimon to find the two humans and bring them to the village. After agreeing to the terms, the four digidestined began their time in the village, constantly training with Ex-Veemon, waiting for the day where they would strike the evil tamers' base.

The day where the army would come together was quickly approaching. Many champion digimon had amassed in the city, entering their own training schedules. Most of the digimon were skeptical of the four humans in the village, not trusting them for the very reason that they were humans. The four kids were anxiously awaiting the arrival of Rika and Izzy, who had yet to be found by the convoys that Ex-Veemon and Babamon sent out into the forests and desert. Tai and the others were quickly getting more worried, concerned that the evil tamers might have found them. Fortunately they didn't have to worry about the DBDW, since Etemon, Mammothmon, Datamon, Nanimon, Ebidramon, and the armies of BomberNanimon, Dolphmon, and Gesomon were the only members.

The digidestined themselves had an eventful time in the village. Eric and Tentomon had taken to regular training schedules with Ex-Veemon, who had grown close to his old friends Tentomon, Salamon, and Patamon again. Kari let Salamon train with Ex-Veemon as well, while spending a lot of her time talking with the Agumon Hakase, a rookie digimon of the Agumon species that had the advantage of being a genius, and headed the medical center of the village. Agumon Hakase had been studying Joe and the dark needle within him, trying intensely for the past two weeks to find a way to free Joe from Devimon's evil tool, with no success. T.K. lately had little social interaction, mostly keeping to himself during their sessions with Ex-Veemon and leaving Patamon to fight by himself at most times.

Tai had spent a lot of time with Swanmon, the armored swan digimon who cared for the younger digimon in the village. She was helping him to try to hatch Agumon from his egg, although they weren't getting very far. Tai was anxiously awaiting Botamon, the baby form of Koromon as told to him by Swanmon, to hatch from the egg. The digidestined had mostly kept to themselves after the events of the week prior to their stay in Shichiri, and Tai was no exception. He was furious with Eric for leaving Kari alone during the battle with Zudomon, his anger also stemming from what he and T.K. had told him what happened in the forest during that time. The three of them had all agreed not to tell Kari or Salamon about what happened, as they looked up to Joe for what he did for Kari, and they didn't want them to know what kind of monster Devimon had turned him into.

At that precise moment, the digidestined were doing what they had been doing the entire two weeks: staying away from each other. Tai was sitting on a bench in the middle of a small park where Swanmon took young rookies to play, and was trying to establish a mental link with the digimon inside of his egg. T.K. was in the quarters they had provided him, thinking to himself while his partner was with Salamon, Tentomon, and Eric, who were all training with Ex-Veemon. Kari was, of course, in the laboratory with Hakase, helping him in any way she could to find the cure for Joe's predicament. There was still no word on Rika or Izzy. Tai looked at the analog watch he had received from Ex-Veemon, checking the time. He was still surprised that the digital world could be so ancient and so modern at the same time. He noted that it was almost 3:00 P.M. Thanking the digimon of this world for having the same time system as Earth, he stood up and started walking towards the town center, where Babamon had been giving them daily tales of digital world history. These talks seemed trivial, but they were actually helping to give the four children a greater understanding of the digital world, and was preparing them better for the upcoming battle.

As Tai left the small park where Swanmon was pushing a Lopmon back and forth on a swing, Tai looked down the rough stone road to his left, where he could see Ex-Veemon training vigorously with Kabuterimon, Angemon, and Angewomon. He could barely see Eric, standing away from them breathing heavily, after having just completed his rounds of running, push-ups, sit-ups, and other activities to keep in shape. He couldn't help but feel a little contempt for the boy, after what had happened with Zudomon and Joe, although he knew that Eric felt worse about it than Tai could ever imagine. He saw the thirteen year old check the watch he had also received from Ex-Veemon, and decided to wait at the intersection for the group of four that would be coming down the alley in a few minutes.

***

"Where the hell is Joe?" Yolei yelled in anger as she stormed into the large cave concealing the large group of evil digidestined. "He was supposed to be back a few days ago after destroying that village!"

"Maybe it took him a little longer than expected," Ken responded from his laid back position on the makeshift couch of boulders, branches, grass and leaves he had created, which was surprisingly comfortable. "I'm sure he'll be back in no time."

"Shut up Ken!" Yolei yelled at the only digidestined who had not evolved his partner to the ultimate level. "That village only has a crowd of rookies and champions. The only high level digimon there is an old ass mega who can't even stand up to the weakest ultimate."

"That's just what Wormmon reported to us." Koichi added to the discussion. "For all we know, there could be fifty ultimate digimon there that Wormmon "forgot" to tell us about."

"Are you calling my partner a liar?" Ken asked violently as he thrust himself off of the couch.

"Maybe instead of arguing about it someone could go out and see what's taking him so long." Matt suggested. "It only takes a few days to get down to that village anyway." He and Zoe both sat on another makeshift couch in the corner of the large cave.

"Might as well," Yolei responded. She looked around the cave, trying to decide who should go. "Where are Kazu and Henry?" She growled again.

"They're not back from destroying the villages they were supposed to take out either." Zoe responded this time.

"Damn it, okay, we need to find out what the hell's going on here." Yolei walked into the middle of the room. "Matt, Zoe, I want you two to go find Kazu. Koichi, go look for Henry, and me and Ken will figure out what's holding Joe up."

"Is it really the wisest desicion to separate each other in order to find the rest of our group?" Koichi asked mockingly.

"Yeah, besides, I'm tired." Matt yawned.

"You'll follow my orders now!" Yolei yelled in anger. "Or did you forget who Devimon put in charge of this little team?"

"We haven't seen Devimon in almost three weeks, I doubt he even cares about us anymore." Ken replied apathetically, much to the irritation of Yolei.

"I'm sure he's just having trouble get across the ocean, what with that fail-safe to protect Primary Village and all," Koichi replied. "Let's just get going." He stood up and started walking towards the exit, snapping his fingers to summon Infermon, who was hiding in the shadows of the upper regions of the cave. Infermon quickly crawled out of the darkness, de-digivolving to Keramon and then leaping onto Koichi's shoulder.

"So just like that, you're going to listen to me?" Yolei replied in doubt.

"Well I don't feel like going against you, what with all the digi-cores you've had Cherrymon absorb, I'd rather not get my ass kicked today if that's okay with you." Upon these words, the other three digidestined decided they might not want to go against Yolei either, so they all followed suit and joined Koichi and Yolei on their departure from the cave. After exiting the dark caverns into the bright yet rocky terrain surrounding the mountain, each went their separate ways. Matt and Zoe headed down to the southwest, where Kazu was supposed to be destroying a village. Yolei and Ken headed over to the southeast, where Joe had gone, and Koichi walked to the west, where Henry had been told to destroy a village. Once they were all separated, however, Koichi doubled back, returning to the cave.

"You're not going to follow the girl's orders?" Keramon asked sarcastically.

"Do I really need too? It's not like you couldn't handle Cherrymon, what with your new 'abilities', and all."

"So why don't you just overthrow her already."

"Stay patient Keramon, it's not like we're in a big rush. I just want to bide my time until the perfect moment. You and I both no that Devimon is probably on his way here right now, and I don't want to find out that his ultimate form is stronger than you at your best."

"But I'm-"

"Before you tell me how powerful you are, just remember that countless ultimates all over this island fear Devimon for a reason. He's no ordinary champion, and I'll bet Myotismon is no ordinary ultimate."

"Fine."

"Don't worry Keramon, we'll take over soon. I just want you to get a little more training in." With that, Koichi returned to the dark cavern.

**"Keramon, warp digivolve to-"**

***

Tai once again sat on the park bench, trying to establish a mental communication with his reborn partner. He watched Swanmon heard a large group of rookie digimon up the jungle gym and down a slide. He smiled, placing his forehead against the egg and focusing intensely on his thoughts. He suddenly felt a lurch lifting the bench up in his direction half a centimeter. He looked to his right and saw Eric sitting there with his head lying in his arms.

"Hey." Tai muttered.

"Hey." Eric responded as he watched Tentomon find a comfortable tree and take a rest.

"What's going on, I thought you were training?"

"We were, but Ex-Veemon had to deal with some political stuff, so Salamon and Patamon went back to Kari and T.K., and me and Tentomon came here for some rest."

"Oh, okay." Tai replied sullenly. He returned his head to lying against the egg his partner was contained in.

"Listen Tai, I know you're still pissed off at me, and you have every right to be-"

"I'm not angry at you Eric."

"Yeah you are," Eric replied with a partially smug look on his face. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out facial expressions."

"Aren't you a genius?"

"My I.Q.'s somewhere in the 130's, but I pay a lot of attention to politics and science. Hardly at the genius level. I think Izzy's I.Q. Is somewhere in the 200's."

"Science, politics, and teenagers, a great combination."

"Yeah, people just hate me at my model U.N. I'm a Christian and a democrat, and I was assigned Saudi-Arabia." Tai chuckled in response. "One time, this boy who was actually from Saudi-Arabia came over and started yelling at me because he thought I was misrepresenting his country. True Story." Tai actually let his voice support the laugh this time. "And guess what country he represented."

"U.S.?"

"Yep. I'm not saying he represented us really well but I'm not saying he got us wrong either." Eric smiled, mocking himself.

"Yeah, well, maybe I am still pretty mad at you, but can you blame me?"

"No, I'm still ticked off at myself for what happened."

"I think Rika would have smacked you around about five times already for what happened with T.K."

"Yup, well, that's what friends are for, beating the living crap out of you when you do something incredibly stupid."

"Yeah, friends..." As Tai's voice trailed off, Eric let out a knowing smile.

"I hope you're talking about Rika." He laughed.

"What?" Tai looked at him in confusion.

"I mean, don't get me wrong. I'd have no problem if you were talking about Izzy, it's fine with me if you think of him that way. I just don't think Izzy's the kind of guy who-" Tai, suddenly realized what Eric was talking about, and stood up quickly, pivoting on his right foot and letting his left foot pile in between Eric's legs. "Ayah!"

"Of course I was talking about Rika." Tai growled.

"Why do people... keep... doing that?" Eric slowly slipped down to the ground, collapsing in pain. "At least... you don't hit... as hard as Rika does."

"That one was for Rika, so we don't have to tell her what happened."

"Thank you..." Eric slowly picked himself up, wincing at the lingering pain. "I'm going to need a cup or something if that's where you all have decided to hit me. It's not cool Tai, as a guy you should no better." Erc let out a relieved sigh. "Also, Tai, I think I know what your problem is with Agumon and why he won't hatch."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you have the crest of courage, which is what gives Agumon his strength. Agumon needs your crest to glow before he can have the inner strength to hatch from that egg."

"And how am I supposed to get my crest to glow when there is no situation that calls for it?"

"There is a situation Tai, it's with yourself."

"What?"

"Tai, you still can't forgive yourself for what happened to SkullGreymon, but it wasn't your fault. You need to forgive yourself for what happened."

"How's that going to help?"

"There aren't many things that compare with coming to peace with yourself Tai. You're too scared to hone up to what you did-"

"I've admitted it plenty of times Eric!"

"Not to yourself."  
"What?"

"You are still too scared to admit to yourself that what happened was a mistake. You need to forgive yourself and move on. Learn from your mistake and just make sure that it doesn't happen again. Then your crest will glow and Agumon -or Botamon- will hatch."

"How can you be sure?"

"I can't be sure that forgiving yourself will make your crest glow, but I know that if you forgive yourself than when Agumon does hatch that you will be able to pick off right where you started, kicking evil digimon's asses on a daily bases." He smiled and then started to walk off.

"Hey, where you going?"

"I'm hungry, I'm going to get something to eat." He walked away from the park, heading towards the eateries deeper in the village.

"I'm too tired to go leave this tree..." Tentomon remarked as he tried to fall asleep.

"I didn't ask you buddy."

"Well in that case," Tentomon lifted himself off of the tree branch he was on and started flying over to Eric, "I'll come with you for annoyance purposes."

"Oh, you are such a great friend." Both of them exited the park. Tai then turned back to Agumon's egg, which was laying peacefully in his lap.

"Well buddy, I hope you can here this." He placed his forehead against the upper half of the egg. "I don't know if this will work, but I'm willing to give it a shot. I don't know if I can really forgive myself, but if it will help you come out sooner, than I'll try my hardest to. I can't really fathom excepting what happened to you, but I want you to come back to us so much, I don't care about my self pity. I just want you to come back to all of your friends. Ever since you left, it's just been one bad thing after another. Rika and Izzy separated from us, T.K. almost died. I never realized how much this group really needed you. I don't know if you really kept us together as a group, although we all loved you, but I don't think anyone could really fathom us together if you aren't with us. We need you back Agumon, I need you back, and I'm willing to put the past behind me to let that happen." He sat there with his head against the shell for a few minutes, and then he realized that nothing was going to happen.

"Well, I guess it was worth a shot." He placed the egg next to him, and then leaned back, closing his eyes. "I hope you know Agumon, all I care about is getting you back and nothing else." He lay there for half an hour, the voices of celebrating child digimon calming him. He soon dozed off. Tai slept through most of the afternoon, and only awoke when the cold temperatures of the night began to nip at him. He slowly shook himself awake, shivering as the cold began to seep into his body. "Okay Agumon, let's go." He picked up the small yellowish egg and started to depart from the empty park, when something odd caught his eye. "What the-?"

***

"Hey T.K." Eric came upon the young boy and his Patamon partner, who were sitting in one of the villages many restaurants, picking at some fruit and some of the world's odd yet tasty meat products, this one fashioned into a burger. T.K. looked up at him and grunted, barely recognizing his presence. "Mind if I sit with you?" Eric asked as Tentomon dropped down onto a chair near Patamon. "Tentomon, I'm asking T.K. if he minds us being here and you're already pulling up a chair, does anything seem wrong with this situation?"

"Patamon's my friend, and you're an ass, so your rules don't apply to me."

"Right."

"You can sit here Eric, I don't mind." T.K. added quietly to the conversation.

"I don't want to upset you T.K., you don't have to feel obligated to be around me just because of the circumstances."

"No, it's fine, I'm not angry at you, I just..." T.K. couldn't come up with anything to add to the sentence.

"I'll go find us something to eat Tentomon."

"Make sure it has bugs in it." Tentomon called to him.

"Yeah, yeah, I remember your weird bug obsession, ya cannibal."

"It's not cannibalism when they're not of the same species and they're not a digimon."

"I guess that's all I can ask for." Eric replied as he walked up to the food court-like food counter.

"You know I've heard of some humans who eat monkey meat."

"He's not listening to you anymore Tentomon." Patamon laughed beside him. "And how would you know that?"

"I don't know, I think it just popped into my head one day."

"I don't think it counts as a real fact when you just think off it."

"It doesn't mean it's not true."

"It doesn't mean it is true either." Eric returned to the table a few minutes later, relieving T.K. from having to listen to the conversation about the possibilities of humans eating monkey brains. He placed a plate full of worm-like bugs, obviously passed away, in front of Tentomon. Tentomon smiled, scarfing down the plate immediately. Eric sat down at the table, placing the chicken strip-like meat he had just purchased in front of him along with the sauce he could only hope was ketchup.

"How long did it take you two to get here?" T.K. asked as he tossed around a green bean look-a-like with his fork. "I've been here for a few hours, and it's pretty dark outside. Why did you wait so long to eat, I haven't seen you here all day."

"There was a big crowd of digimon arriving for the convoy tomorrow, so the roads were really crowded. Why have you been here all day T.K.?" Eric asked with concern.

"No reason..."

"Listen T.K.-"

"Do we have to talk about this right now?"

"Yes we do."

"Oh look, a pancake bar!" Patamon interrupted wondrously, "Tentomon, let us investigate it." He flew upwards, tugging at the digimon.

"I don't like pancakes." Tentomon replied.

"Yes you do, now come on beetle-head." Patamon tightened his grip on the rookie, dragging him across the room towards nowhere in particular.

"How is that an insult? I'm a beetle!" Tentomon could be heard arguing with Patamon as they found a corner to lay low in.

"Okay then," Eric turned back to the young boy. "Listen T.K., you need to talk about this."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do."

"What exactly do you want me to talk about?" T.K. heightened his voice, jumping out of his seat to oppose Eric. "How you almost got me killed?"

"Yes, that's exactly what you need to talk about!" Eric matched the boy. "You're never going to recover from what happened if you keep everything to yourself!" The few digimon who were in the room with them turned their heads in interest.

"I'm not keeping anything to myself Eric! Joe tried to kill me, you stopped him before he could, end of story!"

"No, it's not the end, there's something else bugging you, and you need to talk about it!"

"There isn't anything else bugging me!"

"Yes there is, and you have to talk to someone about it. If it's not me then talk to Tai, or Patamon, or Ex-Veemon for all I care but you have to talk about it otherwise those feelings are going to bottle up inside of you and tear you apart!"

"So you really want to know what my problem is?"

"Yes I do!"

"I almost died, that's the problem! I'm eight years old and some kid who I barely even know tried to kill me, just because I was in the way! It didn't really hit me before then how much danger we all are really in until then, okay?" Both of them stared at each other for a few seconds, before sitting back down in their seats.

"Do you feel better?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry it hit you all at once like that. I know you don't deserve to be here, under the constant threat of destruction, but believe me, if we have any hope of getting your brother back, you're going to have to get over this and go back to the way you were before all of this happened."

"Why do you say that?" T.K. asked in a questioning and irritated tone.

"Tai told me what your crest means, and believe me, if you continue to be really depressed like this, it's never going to activate and Angemon will never digivolve."

"Really, can you tell me what it means?"

"Then I'd just be condemning your crest to uselessness. You've gotta discover it's meaning on your own."

"He tell you what your crest power is?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Well I think I've got an idea, and I think the next time we get in a battle, you're going to have a super strong partner on your hands."

"If I could only hope Takeru." Eric smiled at the boy, happy he was getting out of the slump he had been in for the past two weeks. After all, if the crest of hope was ever going to activate, T.K. needed to have something to give hope to, and he couldn't be spreading the joy if he was in a constant state of depression.

"Did he tell you Kari's crest?"

"Light."

"Light?"

"Yeah."

"That's a weird crest power, more like an element."

"I know."

"The private conversation over?" Patamon asked as he and Tentomon returned to the table.

"Yeah, we're done." T.K. responded.

"Ayaaaahhhh!" A scream from outside drew both of their attentions.

"That can't be good." T.K. muttered.

"Let's go see what's going on." Eric flung himself out of his chair and ran towards the door, T.K., Patamon, and Tentomon behind him. They all burst out into the street to see a large tree-like digimon finishing off a large group of champion digimon, and allowing the data and digi-cores remaining to flow into him.

"What is that?" Eric asked the two partner digimon behind him, who were clueless.

"It's a Cherrymon!" Ex-Veemon slammed down from the sky, joining the group. "An ultimate."

"What's he doing?" T.K. asked.

"He's absorbing their digi-cores to make himself more powerful." Ex-Veemon stated in anger. "How dare he condemn innocent digimon like that!"

"What do you mean?"

"When you absorb a digimon's digi-core, they don't reincarnate into a digi-egg until the digimon that absorbed the core is destroyed."

"So they can't come back at all?"

"Not unless we take out that Cherrymon." Eric said in a commanding tone.

"Why is he attacking us though, that's what I want to know." Ex-Veemon stated as another force of champion digimon confronted the Cherrymon, who started to attack them with all his might. Eric studied the digimon as he battled the opposing champion force, soon coming to a revelation.

"You notice anything familiar about him T.K.?" Eric asked the boy next to him.

"No, what-" T.K. stared at the tree-like digimon, realizing what Eric was referring to. "I see, he looks like a grown up version of Woodmon."

"Cherrymon evolve from Woodmon, what's so important about that?" Ex-Veemon asked as he poised himself to join the battle.

"Woodmon is one of the partners of the evil digidestined." Eric replied.

"Crap."

"They must have found out that we're holding Joe and Gomamon here." T.K. speculated. He and Eric both grabbed their digivices, ready to let their partner's join the battle, when a crash behind them caused them all to twirl around. A tall, humanoid green bee digimon was on the other side of the alley, striking down a few champions as he landed.

"Stingmon." Eric and T.K. stated simultaneously.

"He another evil digidestined's partner?" Ex-Veemon inquired.

"Yup."

"Okay, here's the deal: you two help take on Cherrymon, and I'll have all the forces reroute to fighting him. Then I'll take on Stingmon." They all nodded, and Ex-Veemon rose into the air, bellowing out to the digimon of the city.

"Everyone, attack Cherrymon so we'll stand a chance against him. I'll take care of the Stingmon and join in on the fight soon!"

"Ready T.K.?" Eric asked the boy next to him.

"More than before."

"Good."

**"Tentomon digivolve to... Kabuterimon!"**

**"Patamon digivolve to... Angemon!"**

The two champions jumped into the air, racing towards the violent Cherrymon as he thrashed around, destroying everything in its path.

***

"Kari, what's happening?" Tai ran up to his sibling, who was running towards the commotion in the northwestern part of the village. Around them, massive amounts of champion digimon were also congregating into the area of the city.

"I don't know, I heard some explosions, and then Ex-Veemon yelled something, but I couldn't here it." She replied, her partner jumping around anxiously at her feet.

"Doesn't Salamon have super hearing?"

"She was asleep." Kari stated, much to the irritation of the cat-dog digimon next to her. "Uh, what's that?" She stared at the small black ball with two circular ears and bright yellow eyes.

"Botamon."

"Botamon...? Botamon!" She suddenly cheered, realizing who the digimon was.

"Yep, Agumon's egg hatched."

"Hey Botamon." Kari said to the baby digimon in Tai's arms.

"Bota, Bota," It replied.

"Oh, guess they're just like human babies, huh?"

"Guess so."

"I'm really glad Agumon hatched but can we get to the commotion uptown?" Salamon growled under them.

"Right, let's go." Kari and Tai followed the cat-dog, who was racing towards the commotion with blinding speed. They zig-zagged through the city, dodging the field of angry digimon that were climbing over buildings to get to the location of the battle. They finally arrived at the sight of a crowd of digimon striking a tall tree digimon, who was retaliating with the same force. Kabuterimon and Angemon were also attacking. To the right in the air, Ex-Veemon was fighting with what all three recognized as Stingmon.

"Looks like Joe's friends are here."

"We have to stop them!" Kari said with fire.

"Right, but first we have to figure out what that tree thing is. It doesn't look like Woodmon."

"It's a Cherrymon, they digivolve from Woodmon." Agumon Hakase appeared next to them.

"Well, it looks like Yolei is here." Tai muttered.

"Is that a bad thing?" Hakase asked.

"She's a freakin' genius." Kari responded.

"Oh, that's nice." Hakase pulled over to the side. "Listen, I can't contribute much to this fight, nor can I provide a very strong defense. Can I count on you two to stop them from getting Joe? Oh, a Botamon."

"We'll take care of it Hakase," Kari replied, "They won't lay a finger on your lab."

**"Salamon, warp digivolve to... Angewomon!"** The angel flew off towards the battle, racing towards the ultimate Cherrymon.

"We'd better go to the lab and make sure Joe's secure." Tai suggested.

"Right, Yolei and Ken are probably using their digimon as a distraction so they can free Joe themselves." Kari agreed.

"Two humans are trying to free the boy?" Hakase asked. "Then it looks like I might stand a chance after all. Let's get a move on!" The three ran towards Hakase's medical center.

"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon fired a blast into Cherrymon's back, forcing the digimon to scream in pain and leap from the field of digimon onto a building, where he could see everything around him.

"Who are you?" Cherrymon growled at the angel.

"No one good for you- Celestial Arrow!"

"Cherry Bomb!" The two attacks collided in midair, blowing a huge cloud of smoke across the battlefield. All the champion digimon had decided to hang back, as they knew that Angewomon, with the extensive training she had received over the past two weeks, could easily handle the ultimate.

"She'll be fine, right?" Angemon questioned the beetle next to him.

"Yeah, we should go help Ex-Veemon, he probably needs our help more than Angemon." Kabuterimon replied.

"Okay, come on!" Angemon zoomed away from the battlefield, with Kabuterimon close behind.

"I don't think so, Cherry Bomb!" Cherrymon sneaked away from his battle with Angewomon for half a second to defend his ally from the reinforcements.

"Kabuterimon, Angemon, look out!" Eric and T.K. screamed to their partners as they made it to the empty alley below the two champions. They looked back too late as the explosive fruits smashed into them, creating another smoke cloud around them. Seconds later Tentomon and Patamon fell from the sky, landing in their partner's arms.

"You okay buddy?" Eric asked the weak digimon in his arms. Takeru did the same.

"I'm great, I enjoy getting blown up." Tentomon replied sarcastically.

"Don't worry you two!" They heard Ex-Veemon scream from above, "I've got this!" They looked up to see Ex-Veemon and Stingmon fling themselves away from each other, both of them breathing heavily.

"You're a tough opponent Stingmon." Ex-Veemon complimented his enemy.

"As are you." Stingmon replied in between heavy breaths. "But you're no match for me. I have the strength of a human behind me, which makes me much stronger than you."

"We'll see about that: V-Laser!" Ex-Veemon pumped his chest forward, allowing the cross on his chest to fire a beam of energy at the dragonfly/bee hybrid. Stingmon in reply activated the purple energy sword on his wrist and slashed the attack away, letting the two halves of the now useless attack flying in opposite directions. Ex-Veemon then suddenly sped towards him, tossing a fist at the digimon's face. Stingmon dropped his sword and raised his arms over his face, blocking the digimon's attacks. Ex-Veemon then relayed a series of simple punches and kicks at the digimon, which Stingmon sequentially blocked. Ex-Veemon then pulled away quickly, twisting his body around and giving a swinging kick at the insect. Stingmon kicked the leg away, bouncing off of the digimon and turning around in midair, activating his sword once again.

"Spiking Strike!" Stingmon raced towards Ex-Veemon, who prepared to counter attack.

"V-Laser!" Ex-Veemon sent his crossed laser at Stingmon, who laughed at the advantageous situation he had found himself in. He twisted to his right side, allowing the beam to pass by him harmlessly. Before Ex-Veemon could call off the attack, Stingmon then swung his bladed arm at Ex-Veemon's chest, where the beam had just finished steaming out of.

"Crap!" Ex-Veemon pulled back as Stingmon's arm thrust towards him. The purple blade barely missed, Ex-Veemon breathing heavily as the sword hovered just in front of his lungs. "You missed."

"No I didn't."

"What are you- Ayah!" Ex-Veemon screamed in pain as Cherrymon threw a beaten Starmon at the champion's back, knocking him forward and causing Stingmon's blade to slash through the dragon's chest.

***

"They're taking too long." Tai observed as the three stood near Joe's sound proof cage.

"What are they waiting for?" Kari asked, confirming Tai's fears.

"They must know we're guarding Joe, otherwise they wouldn't be so hesitant." Hakase added.

"I just wish they would show themselves already. The worst part is the waiting." Tai replied.

"They'll be here soon Tai," Kari said, "We just have to be patient."

"Yeah, patient." Tai muttered.

"Patient." Hakase tapped his foot slowly.

"Mm hm," Kari nodded.

"Bota, Bota."

***

Eric and T.K. stared up at the scene, stunned at what had just happened. Above them, Ex-Veemon tried to breathe, but the sword in his gut was prohibiting the move.

"Ex-Veemon... no..." Tentomon tried to lift himself up so he could help his wounded friend, but he was too weak.

"I told you you weren't strong enough to beat me." Stingmon smiled as he pulled the sword out of Ex-Veemon's gut, retracting the energy back into his arm. Ex-Veemon gagged, staring at his conquerer with anger.

"It doesn't...gah!... it doesn't matter... if you defeat me... the digi-gah!-destined will... destroy you regardless."

"You fool, I am the digidestined."

"Not those digidestined, the good ones, the ones who destroyed Devimon, and the ones who will defeat...you!" Ex-Veemon gasped one more time before his body started to fade away into data.

"Destroy Devimon? That's not possible."

"No, Ex-Veemon!" Tentomon struggled to free himself from Eric's tight grip. Stingmon tilted his head down upon the scream, realizing what digidestined Ex-Veemon had been talking about.

"Tentomon, you can't go up there, you have to rest!" Eric restrained his partner, who was struggling uncontrollably.

"No, Ex-Veemon is one of my best friends, I have to save him!" Tentomon tried desperately to free himself, but Eric would not let go.

"Them?" Stingmon glanced down at the two tamers. "They couldn't have." His attention then turned to Ex-Veemon, who had almost completely faded away. He then spotted Ex-Veemon's digi-core, hovering in the middle of the pixilating digimon as it awaited the rest of the digimon's data to fade away so it could rise into the air to be reborn as a digi-egg. "Yes..." Stingmon raised his arm towards the object slowly, savoring the moment's before he absorbed his first digi-core.

"No!" Tentomon struggled even more violently. "We have to stop him before he takes Ex-Veemon's digi-core! I'll never forgive myself if something happens to him!" Eric still held the digimon down, looking up helplessly at Stingmon as he extended his arm closer and closer to what was left of Ex-Veemon. He then looked down to his partner, but the dull light emanating from the crest under his shirt caught his eye instead.

"Tentomon, we have to wait." He told the struggling partner.

"Wait for what- for Ex-Veemon's digi-core to be absorbed so he can never come back?"

"Yes."

"No! Hell no! I'm saving him right now!"

"Tentomon, you just don't have the strength to fight him right now!"

"I have to try."

"But you will have the strength to stop him once he absorbs Ex-Veemon's digi-core."

"What?" Tentomon then noticed the light emanating from Eric's crest. "You sure?"

"Very. As soon as Stingmon takes that core, then you'll digivolve and crush that bastard, then Ex-Veemon will be free."

"Okay then." Tentomon forced himself to calm down, watching with pain and grief as Stingmon wrapped his fingers around the once champion's soul.

"Thank you very much for your contribution," Stingmon laughed as his palm wrapped around the light. "Devimon will surely be appreciative of the help you've given his cause- Ayah!" Energy surged through him, giving him a bright smile under the armor plate that blocked his mouth. "So this is what it feels like to absorb a digi-core, it's so invigorating! What-?" An odd feeling suddenly washed over him. "What's... what's happening?"

"You ready Tentomon?" Eric, who's crest was shining brightly now, asked his angry partner.

"Never been more ready."

"Can you warp digivolve like Angewomon?"

"I don't see any reason why I shouldn't."

"Good." Tentomon leaped from the teen's arms, racing upwards towards Stingmon.

**"Tentomon, warp digivolve to..."** Above him, a bright light had begun to take over Stingmon.

"What is happening to me!!!!!!" He screamed as the light consumed every part of his body.

**"Stingmon digivolve to..."**

"Oh no! Stingmon's digivolving too!" T.K. yelled in panic.

**"Paildramon!"**

**"MegaKabuterimon!"** Two new digimon now hovered in the sky where Tentomon and Stingmon had once been. The red beetle, much like the four armed beetle with horned helmet and thin, winged and shell less blue body, Kabuterimon, except now with a hard shell accompanying his many wings, and a forked horn extending from his head, faced his new opponent. Stingmon seemed to have merged with the body of Ex-Veemon, to create a dragon/bee hybrid, with characteristics of both champions resembling Ex-Veemon doused in Stingmon's armor, and one new feature- a pair of long machine guns strapped to Paildramon's waist. They both stared each other down, ready to show off their new powers.

"This is gonna be interesting."

"Desperado Blaster!" Paildramon lifted the loosely hanging machine guns and aimed them at MegaKabuterimon, unleashing a steam of laser bullets at the insect.

"Horn Buster!" A flash of lightning streamed from the horn on MegaKabuterimon's head, it also bolting towards the monster's opponent. Both attacks rocketed towards each other, neither battler knowing which new digimon's attacks would be more effective. Both attacks crashed into each other in between them, sending a massive smoke cloud blooming around them.

"No! Which attack hit?" T.K. cried.

"I don't know." Eric muttered. Both boys watched the smoke slowly begin to fade away, anxiously anticipating the results of the first attacks from the new ultimates. "Please make it MegaKabuterimon."


	23. For a Friend

I know Eric's crest has been used a lot, but I decided on it two years ago when I first started building this, and I can't fathom changing it. Also, don't worry, Rika and Izzy will come back soon, I just need to finish this story line. I know this might be getting a little confusing, but I have a clear plan and I'll make sure it starts to make sense soon. If you have a problem with my fic, review so I can know what I'm doing wrong, so thanks to Alamodie.

**Chapter Twenty Three: For a Friend**

"I hear something." Hakase peered his head around the corner, sniffing the air to detect the source of the light foot fall.

"What is it?" Kari whispered in response, she herself positioned on the other end of the hallway, watching the conjoining hall for the evil tamers. Tai sat in the middle, ready to come to either sentry's aid if the situation called for it.

"Bota, Bota!" Botamon began hopping excitedly in his partner's arms, the loud noise from the digimon's cheering causing concern for the three.

"Botamon, you have to keep quiet." Tai clasped his hand over the baby's mouth, trying to muffle the noise.

"bota, bota," Botamon kept cheering even with his restrictions.

"Botamon stop." Tai hissed into the small digimon.

"Let me," Hakase ran up to them, skilled in dealing with all types of digimon, especially ones he evolved from. "Botamon, bo-bo-bota." Tai stared in fascination as Agumon Hakase carried out a short conversation with the pure black digimon. Botamon nodded his head-body a few times, and then silenced himself. "Good boy, thank you." Hakase returned to his post.

"Okay...?"

"I hear something over here too." Kari whispered from her side of the hallway. Tai reacted, taking a glance into Joe Kido's isolated cell. The boy was asleep, his Gomamon roommate lying on the bunk next to him. He began to turn around towards Kari, but something then occurred to him. While Kari impatiently waved her hand forward, Tai took another glance at the seemingly sleeping pair behind the sealed fiberglass window. He stared at them for a few moments, trying to figure out what was bothering him. "Tai!" Kari hissed at her brother, "Get over here!"

"They aren't breathing." Tai's face began to drop. "They aren't breathing!" Tai called to Hakase, who immediately ran to the scene. Kari ran to them as well. Hakase pressed his scaly palm against a high tech panel next to the fiberglass door. This usually amazed Tai, once again confirming the medieval-futuristic combination that was the digital world, but this time he was too intrigued about the travesty in the chamber to be interested. He watched as the window pane quickly melted away, the remains of the former barrier seeping into the floor. All three of them then rushed into the room, coming to the aid of the breathless boy.

"Joe are you okay?" Kari shook the boy back in forth, Hakase standing with her just in case anything went south, while Tai checked on the lifeless Gomamon.

"Gomamon, Gomamon!" Tai shook the digimon, who remained lifeless. Behind him, a sudden gasp of air caught his attention. He turned around to see Joe gasping wildly for air, Kari and Hakase sighing with relief. "Good- Agh!" A sharp point pressed itself into the back of Tai's neck, causing the boy to collapse onto the ground after unconsciousness consumed him.

"Tai!" Kari turned to her brother, checking his pulse.

"He's getting away!" Hakase leaped at Gomamon, who expertly dodged the dinosaur's attack and slipped out of the cell. Hakase's eyes then turned to Joe, who had already leaped out of his bed and slipped out of the room too. "No!" Hakase jumped towards the door, but Joe had already smashed his fist into the control panel, short circuiting the device and causing the fiberglass door to suddenly rise up from the floor, quickly solidifying before Hakase, who crashed into the impenetrable shield, watching helplessly as Joe departed from the hallway, after his partner Gomamon to search for his digivice and crest. "They got away..."

"Tai, Tai, wake up!" Kari lifted her brother's head, slapping the boy's face a few times in a failed attempt to wake him up.

"I can't believe we fell for that..."

"Agumon Hakase!" Kari screamed at the scholarly digimon, who twisted around in surprise. "Help me please!" Hakase snapped back into reality, coming to Tai's side and checking the pulse in his neck.

"He's okay Kari, he just needs a few minutes to wake up. Here, help me place him on the bed." Botamon jumped out of Tai's arms as Kari and Agumon Hakase lifted the unconscious pre-teen and placed him on Joe's bed, propping him up against the wall. "Now we need to find a way out of here." Hakase turned his attention back to the solid fiberglass door. "Now this is going to be difficult."

"Don't you have some secret way of opening the doors in an emergency like this?" Kari whined as she picked up Botamon, who was jumping up in down with joy, clueless as to what was happening.

"No, I made sure that these doors could never be opened from the inside, just in case we got some high profile prisoners."

"No..." She stared at the impenetrable window, contemplating what to do. "Not all of your doors are like this, some of them are made of different material, aren't they?"

"Yes, the doors are made to be defensive against certain types of attacks. The fiberglass cells block any sort of pointed or projectile attack, like Ikkakumon's Harpoon Torpedo or Zudomon's Vulcan's Hammer."

"So that means that there could be an attack that would work against it?"

"Yes- fire attacks are effective against the fiberglass, but unfortunately, my pepper breath is too weak to penetrate the wall."

"Can't you digivolve?"

"I chose a long time ago to let my knowledge and wisdom grow instead of my power, so I gave up the power to digivolve in order to increase my mental strength."

"Botamon, how about you?" She looked down at the playful creature, who gave an expected "Bota-Bota-Bota" in response. "Aw."

"Even if Botamon could ascend to Agumon, he still wouldn't be powerful enough to take down this window. We'd need at least the power of Greymon to take it out, and even that wouldn't bring any guarantees."

"So basically we're trapped here until someone comes to check on us."

"That's if anyone is left to check on us. If you'll remember, there is a vicious attack on the village going on outside."

"Right, but I'm sure that T.K. and Eric will take care of it and come to find us along with Angewomon."

"If they can take on that ultimate, I saw him absorbing digi-cores during the battle."

"Is that bad?"

"Digi-cores dramatically increase a digimon's strength. Just a few can give a brand new ultimate digimon the strength of a ten year old."

"But if Eric and T.K. get their crests to glow, then their strength would be stronger than even someone experienced like a Cherrymon."

"Depends on what their crests are, did Tai tell you?"

"He said they were hope and wisdom."

"Oh yes, those should be easy to fulfill."

"So we need Greymon huh?" Tai had awoken a few seconds earlier, and now stood behind the two pessimistic speakers.

"Huh? Tai!" She hugged her brother with one arm (the other holding Botamon), happy that he was okay.

"Glad you're okay Kamiya, so what where you thinking when you said that about Greymon?" Hakase questioned the boy as Kari handed back his partner.

"Don't worry," He smiled, "I've got a plan."

"Okay, this should be interesting." Tai discussed his idea with Kari and Hakase, and a few minutes later, both of them were in the corner of the room with a wall panel separating them from the rest of the room, which they had pried off with the help of Hakase's Pepper Breath. Tai stood in the middle of the rather large prison cell, kneeling down with Botamon sitting on the ground in front of him.

"Okay Botamon, I really need you to do this for me, okay?"

"Bota, bota-bota!"

"I don't really understand what that means, but I'm going to trust that you understand what I'm saying, alright?"

"Botaaaa!"

"Okay, here it goes." Tai walked away from the digimon, jumping behind the wall panel with Hakase and Kari. He stood up, holding up his digivice. "Here goes nothing, digivolution, activate!" Tai held his digivice into the air, letting the screen face Botamon, who looked at him cluelessly.

"Guess it was worth a shot," Tai sighed, his plan not working properly.

"It's okay Tai, we'll-" A stream of white light burst from Tai's digivice, interrupting Kari's words of comfort. "Never mind!"

**"Botamon, warp digivolve to..."**

"Tai get down!" Hakase pulled the tamer down behind the wall panel.

**"Greymon!" **The large digimon stood on his belly, his massive form taking up most of the space in the room.

"Hey buddy, long time no see huh?" Tai yelled from behind the metal panel.

"Time for pleasantries later okay, let's get us out of here." Greymon backed himself away from the fiberglass door as much as he could. He raised the arches of his mouth, preparing his powerful fire. "Nova Blast!" Greymon's short range attack slammed into the window, heating the air in the poorly ventilated room. The fire burst backwards, the flames licking the metal walls of the room. A few seconds passed, the fire quickly fading away, revealing the disintegrated window before them. "I got it!"

***

Before the dust could settle, Eric dragged T.K. into a nearby building, positioning the two boys beside a window so they could still witness the battle. "Come on MegaKabuterimon," He whispered as he started to make out two figures in the quickly cleansing air. Once the dust fully faded away, Eric and T.K., with the unconscious Patamon in his arms, could see MegaKabuterimon and Paildramon still facing off against each other, neither of their attacks having been successful.

"Well that was pretty anticlimactic." T.K. muttered.

"As long as MegaKabuterimon's okay, that's fine with me." As they positioned themselves safely within the building, MegaKabuterimon and Paildramon stared each other down, breathing heavily.

"What's the matter Paildramon?" MegaKabuterimon laughed in between breaths. "Can't handle an opponent who can actually match your skill level?"

"You seem very confident in your abilities for someone who couldn't even make it to rookie up until a month ago." Paildramon replied in the same tired manner.

"We both digivolved to ultimate at the same time you fool."

"If you'll recall, I digivolved just before you did."

"Don't be petty Paildramon, now stay still while I beat Ex-Veemon out of you." Paildramon laughed in response, with a condescending tone to boot. "What's so funny?"

"You are." Paildramon controlled himself, the two digimon recovering from their initial attacks. "You actually think that my Stingmon side has taken over my Ex-Veemon side."

"What do you mean sides?"

"I mean..." Paildramon smiled, "I'm not Stingmon controlling Ex-Veemon or vise-versa. We combined together to make one super powerful digimon, the creation you see before you!"

"You lie! Ex-Veemon would never partner with something evil like you, and if you really were half Ex-Veemon then his consciousness would easily overpower Stingmon's evil!"

"Are you that stupid?" Paildramon smiled. "Ex-Veemon controls this body just as much as Stingmon does, and he enjoys the power, the rush, and the freedom!"

"I don't believe you, now let him go!!!!!" MegaKabuterimon flew towards him, lowering his head to take aim at the dragon-bee. Electricity began to build up into his pitchfork horn. "Rhino Horn!"

"Cable Catcher!" Paildramon's sharp Stingmon oriented fingers shot out of his black armored hands and twirled around MegaKabuterimon, trying to ensnare the beetle.

"Repulsion Field!" A field of electric energy quickly formed around MegaKabuterimon, shielding him from the wired attack. Paildramon quickly retracted his claws, this time taking a less aggressive stance against MegaKabuterimon's attack. Paildramon ducked his upper body down, allowing himself to push off of MegaKabuterimon's chest and land on top of the building below before the ultimate insect could land his attack.

"My turn- Desperado Blaster!" Paildramon grasped the handles on his hip centered weapons and aimed them at MegaKabuterimon's underbelly. The automatic fire rocketed towards the ultimate, leaving him little time to think. Reacting on instinct, MegaKabuterimon pulled his arms together and prepared an attack.

"Electro-Shocker!"

"MegaKabuterimon, you don't know that attack anymore!" Eric screamed to his partner, who couldn't hear him over the gunfire. Much to his, T.K.'s, and even Paildramon's surprise, the familiar sphere of electricity formed in front of MegaKabuterimon's arms, and he launched it at Paildramon with force. Paildramon, surprised by the expected-to-fail attack, jumped away as the orb slammed into the building opposite T.K. and Eric, obliterating it.

"They can use old attacks?" Said T.K. "Good to know."

"You're not supposed to be able to do that you bastard." Paildramon yelled as he dashed across the rooftops, trying to get behind the beetle. MegaKabuterimon twisted around to face the speeding dragon-bee.

"Well I guess I'm just full of surprises." The monster smiled as a thought suddenly came into Paildramon's head.

"V-Laser!" A crossed beam streamed out of Paildramon's head, speeding towards MegaKabuterimon.

"Damn blow back!" MegaKabuterimon flew upwards, the beam passing harmlessly beneath him. "Nice try!" Paildramon then switched to close range combat. He leaped from the rooftop and came within striking distance of MegaKabuterimon.

"Spiking Strike!" The purple blade thrust itself from Paildramon's left arm, and he struck at MegaKabuterimon's chest.

"You should learn some new tricks Paildramon, Repulsion Field!" The field of electricity once again covered MegaKabuterimon, protecting him from the blade, which shattered on impact.

"So should you!" Paildramon pulled back his leg, slamming his heel into the electric orb. The insect stared at him confidently, then realizing that he had no leverage inside of the protective sphere, began to panic as Paildramon's strike shocked the attacker, easily sending MegaKabuterimon flying into the air.

"Damn!" MegaKabuterimon threw off the shield, now going on the defensive. "Horn Buster!" A beam of electricity flew towards Paildramon, who wasn't prepared for the attack.

"Desperado-Ayah!" Before Paildramon could mount a defense, the lighting struck the horizontal horn atop Paildramon's head, paralyzing the digimon momentarily as he fell back to the building tops.

***

"Are they in there?" Kari hovered over Hakase, who had just opened the drawer in his desk that housed the digivice and crest that belonged to Joe.

"Nope, they've already found it." Hakase sighed.

"Damn it, they're always one step ahead of us." Tai growled. "We have to go outside and track them down before they join up with the battle and put Ex-Veemon, Angewomon, and the others at a serious disadvantage."

"Right let's move." Hakase ran down the hallway that lead to the stairs. Kari, Tai, and Agumon followed. They made it to the doorway that opened up into the stairwell, leading them down the flights of stairs to the main lobby of the building.

"Listen Agumon," Tai spoke to his recently digivolved partner as they ran through the corridors.

"If this is an apology, then you can just forget it." Agumon replied as he ran down the hallway just ahead of Tai.

"Agumon, I don't blame you for being angry at me-"

"Angry at you? I just don't want to have to listen to another apology. I heard like twenty of them when I was in my digi-egg."

"What?"

"Of course I forgive you Tai, Devimon took advantage of both of us, so I don't see any reason why I should be mad at you. Let's just put the whole thing behind us."

"Thanks Agumon." The two had slowed down while talking to each other.

"Hey, hurry up!" Agumon Hakase yelled as he and Kari made it to the glass doors of the exit.

"Right, coming!" Both of them arrived at the door, and the four exited the building at the same time, searching cautiously for any signs of the evil digidestined.

"You see them anywhere?" Hakase mumbled.

"No, they probably high tailed it out of here the moment they broke Joe out of the lab." Tai replied.

"You mean when he broke himself out." Kari correct him.

"Please don't remind me."

"Please remind us, he he." A voice behind them caused the four to quickly twist around. Yolei was standing on top of the arch that led into Hakase's laboratory. "It's so pleasing to hear how stupid you all are."

"We were smart enough to defeat Devimon." Tai and Agumon smiled.

"That's a lie!" Ken appeared in the entrance to an alley to their right. "Devimon would never lose to the likes of you."

"Shows what you know!" Kari opposed. "Tai found his crest and digivolved Agumon to MetalGreymon. Then they easily destroyed your master!"

"If that's true," A voice in the large courtyard to their left drew their attention. Joe and Gomamon were standing near a fountain in the middle of the large empty cobblestone center. "Then maybe we should put it to the test. Gomamon?" His partner nodded, light from Joe's crest quickly consuming him in darkness and increasing his size to the mammoth that was Zudomon.

"Agumon, you're the only one who stands a chance against him, do you think you can digivolve?" Tai asked his partner, who looked at him without confidence.

"I'm not sure Tai, I don't know what that incident with SkullGreymon did to me, but I can try."

"That's all I ask buddy, go for it."

"I will!" Agumon ran up to confront the Zudomon.

"Well, digivolve already." Zudomon boomed from four stories above them as Joe found refuge in the alley across the courtyard along with the other two evil tamers. "I won't waist my efforts on a weak rookie."

"Do your stuff Agumon." Tai wrapped his fingers around his digivice and slanted his eyes. "Here goes..."

**"Agumon, warp digivolve to..."** The familiar beam of white light extended from Taichi's crest and consumed Agumon, as he began to grow to the same size as Zudomon.

"Tai, it worked!" Kari cheered, prompting the brother to look upon his ultimate partner. As the light streamed from Tai's chest, however, it began to change color from white to gray. "Oh no."

"Agumon?" Tai staggered backwards as the now dark gray light faded away, and the infamous ultimate, void of all tissue, stood there in his ivory glory. "No, he digivolved to SkullGreymon again."

"What is that?" Zudomon was shocked at the dark digivolution. SkullGreymon growled at him happily before leaping off of the ground and pouncing on the walrus-turtle.

***

"Horn Buster!" MegaKabuterimon fired another thunderous attack at Paildramon, who took it head on, knocking him back down to the crippled building he had been landing on for the umpteenth time. "Give it up Paildramon, you're too tired to fight anymore." He said, landing on the non destroyed structure next to where Paildramon lay.

"I'll still take you down you overconfident loser." Paildramon lifted himself up with difficulty, then jumped into the air for another attack. "Desperado Blaster!"

"Electro-Shocker!" The two attacks clashed in mid air, with one clear victor. The sphere of electricity burned the automatic fire into oblivion and slammed into Paildramon's chest. Paildramon once again fell down onto the crippled building, knocking down it's second level so that he fell to the ground with debris from the upper two levels falling down on him. Paildramon tiredly dragged his body out of the debris again, jumping into the air only to find he had little strength to do so. He pushed backwards so that he could land on top of the building on the other side of the destroyed structure, now directly across from MegaKabuterimon.

"You won't win MegaKabuterimon, I won't allow it."

"You come here, seeking to destroy innocent digimon, and you tell me that you won't allow me to do something? Fat chance. Electro-Shocker!" The attack sped towards Paildramon, who tried to dodge with all of his strength behind him. The attack still landed however, burning into the left side of his stomach and his left arm.

"Ayah!" Paildramon pivoted on his right foot, trying to brace himself as the last of his strength escaped him and he crashed hard onto the roof. The stone under him shattered, knocking Paildramon down onto the second floor, where he lay in defeat.

"You brought this on yourself Paildramon." MegaKabuterimon rose into the air, hovering over the dragon-bee. "Horn Buster!" The stream of electricity rose into the air, preparing to descend down onto Paildramon and destroy him, separating Ex-Veemon's digi-core from the creature, when suddenly something slammed into MegaKabuterimon's back. He and the object were thrown down into the building adjacent to Paildramon's, obliterating it and knocking MegaKabuterimon along with tons of debris onto the ground. MegaKabuterimon pulled himself out of the rubble to see what had hit him, and quickly spotted a battered angelic digimon laying next to him.

"Angewomon!" MegaKabuterimon pulled her out of the rubble, supporting her in his many arms. "Angewomon, what happened?"

"Cherrymon... he was too... too... too strong... for me..." She replied before her head fell. MegaKabuterimon growled angrily as the angel de-digivolved into Salamon. He pulled himself out of the shattered building and placed Salamon down on the sidewalk next to the building behind him, and then leaped into the air to see Cherrymon standing on the structure he had once stood on to oppose Paildramon.

"You'll pay for this! Rhino Charge!" MegaKabuterimon sped towards the laughing tree, who then realized just how powerful and angry the beetle was.

"Aw damn-" MegaKabuterimon slammed into the ultimate, knocking both of them far away from the beaten, sleeping Salamon.

***

"Gyah!" Zudomon gagged in pain as SkullGreymon slammed his fleshless fist into the walrus-turtle's chest. SkullGreymon finished his attack by shoving Zudomon backwards, slamming the digimon's armored back into the tall wood-stone building behind them. The five story structure collapsed onto Zudomon, piling him under rubble. SkullGreymon backed away, laughing at the success of his attack. He then turned around to face the two groups of humans that had formed in separate alleys, watching him with fear. He stared at both of them with thirst, then sensing something upsetting to him about the group of three humans to his left, decided to destroy them first.

"He's going after the evil tamers!" Kari exclaimed as SkullGreymon stomped towards the three humans, who began to flee down the alleyway. "We have to stop him now!" Kari ran out into the courtyard, stopped by the tight grip of Hakase on her arms.

"Kari, you can't do anything right now!" Hakase dragged her back into their shelter. "He'll probably kill you."

"I can't just do nothing!"

"Then go find Angewomon and have her help. Didn't she defeat SkullGreymon last time?"

"Oh, okay!" Kari nodded her head and ran down the alley the were in, towards the still raging battle to the north. Hakase then turned his attention to Tai, who was just standing at the edge of the alley, watching SkullGreymon's path of destruction. Hakase came to the boy's side and prepared to speak, when he was interrupted.

"Save it," Tai growled before Hakase could begin, "I've heard it all before, about how it's not my fault. Just save it, and let's try to save Agumon." Hakase quivered behind him, deciding to respect the boy's wishes.

Suddenly, an explosion of debris from the other side of the courtyard caught Hakase and Tai's attentions. They stared in awe as Zudomon lifted himself out of the debris pile, looking relatively unscathed.

"Is that all you've got?" He screamed through the courtyard, catching the attention of SkullGreymon, who was trying to find a way into the alley that housed the evil digidestined. SkullGreymon turned around to see Zudomon staring the monster down, and decided that he would rather this prey than some weak humans. SkullGreymon smiled, a low rumbling coming out of his chest, and he ran towards Zudomon, his footsteps each creating their own miniature earthquakes. Zudomon revolted, running towards SkullGreymon with his hammer held high over his head, ready to strike down with extreme power. "Die you bastard!" He yelled as he jumped up, increasing his speed as he flew down on SkullGreymon, pulling his hammer down violently. SkullGreymon ducked as the weapon slammed into the bone dragon's back, causing him to scream in pain as he fell to the ground.

"SkullGreymon..." Tai stared in sadness as Zudomon began to conquer the demon, driving the flat of his foot into SkullGreymon's back. SkullGreymon let out an ear shattering roar of pain each time Zudomon planted his foot into SkullGreymon's back. Finally having enough of the pain, SkullGreymon tried to roll over, only succeeding in moving his head under Zudomon's foot instead of his back. Zudomon then began to stomp on the demon's skull, causing SkullGreymon even more pain. Zudomon failed to realize the predicament he was in however.

"Dark Shot!" SkullGreymon growled darkly as the missile on his back fired forwards, exploding on impact into Zudomon's knee and making Zudomon give a blood curdling scream.

"Ayaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Zudomon yelled in agony as the pain in his knee began to pulsate through the rest of his body. The pain reaching his arm, Zudomon dropped the heavy weapon in his raised right arm, letting it fall down onto his shelled back. The stronger weapon pierced the digimon's defenses, creating a spiderweb crack on the digimon's spiked armor. The weapon then skidded down the digimon and slammed into the ground, creating a relatively small crater where the sharp back point of the hammer drove itself into the earth. Zudomon quivered for a second and then fell forwards, releasing SkullGreymon from his grip and landing heavily on his chest. SkullGreymon then stood up, smiling devilishly at the reversed situation.

"He's going to kill him!" Tai yelled passionately, reversing his earlier attitude at the situation. "There has to be something we can do!"

"There is," Hakase ran a few feet into the courtyard while SkullGreymon stomped angrily over to Zudomon, who lay on the ground paralyzed. "Pepper Breath!"


	24. A Journey Again

**Chapter Twenty Four: A Journey Again**

Tai sat atop a small mound of rubble, letting the tired Koromon in his lap rest. Kari sat on the sidewalk to his left, letting the Salamon in her lap rest as well. Eric, with his unconscious partner Motimon, and T.K. with Patamon, sat on the other side of the destroyed cobblestone road.

"I'm sorry Tai..." Koromon tried to mutter.

"Don't Koromon, just rest." Tai replied softly. He patted the in-training's head a few times, then leaning his head against the building behind him. The painful memories of the previous battle then began to rush back to him. His thoughts drifted over SkullGreymon running towards him and Hakase angrily, barely coming to his sense before he barreled down on them. He remembered the constant apologies after Koromon had de-digivolved and they had made their way to the stormy battle to the north. He remembered seeing Eric, T.K., and Kari pinned inside one of the few remaining buildings as the battle between MegaKabuterimon and Cherrymon came to a climax, each digimon knocking each other out with their final attack and de-digivolving. Amidst the chaos, the four digidestined had come together while the three evil tamers grabbed their partners and made their escape from the city. Upon seeing them flee, Patamon mustered up the rest of his strength and re-digivolved to Angemon, chasing down the three. Angemon had tried one last firing of a weaker Hand of Fate at the tamers to purge the dark needles out of them, but it had no success. The dark needles had routed themselves within the tamers too well.

The aftermath of the battle seemed almost worse. A large portion of the northern section of the village had been obliterated, leaving an expansive mess for the citizens of Shichiri village to clean up, or what was left of them. Cherrymon had taken out about 35 percent of everyone in the village, including the bulk of the champion army that had congregated in the village to prepare for the assault on the evil tamers. The loss of Ex-Veemon and Dinohumon was even more devastating. Cherrymon had brutally executed Dinohumon and absorbed his digi-core, and as Tai learned shortly after the fighting subsided, Stingmon had absorbed Ex-Veemon's digi-core and data to digivolve himself to his ultimate form, Paildramon. Babamon, the only remaining leader of the village, was at the site of Cherrymon and Paildramon's battle, directing the recovery. She took a minute to come see how the four digidestined were handling the past events.

"How are you all doing?" Babamon asked solemnly as she came upon the quartet.

"Not great," Tai replied, "We destroyed half the town, let the evil tamers escape with the digi-cores of two of our closest friends, and I somehow managed to digivolve my partner into a murderous maniac again, this time with no help from Devimon."

"It could be worse."

"How?"

"Cherrymon and Paildramon could have been even more successful than they were. They could have broken Zudomon out of prison and ravaged this town, destroying everyone here. But you stopped them before they could do anything else. You drove them out of the village and gave the survivors a chance to strike back and avenge our fallen friends."

"How are you so... experienced Babamon?" Tai chose his words carefully.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if the dark beacon degenerated all of the digimon in the digital world five years ago, then why didn't you degenerate?"

"I've been a mega for a very long time young boy, I have learned to sacrifice power for sustainability. That is why I have the strength of a mere champion, why are you asking?"

"Just wanted to know."

"Taichi, you cannot sulk like this after what happened, if you are truly mourning the loss of your friends, then you must make it right."

"What do you mean?"

"We need to go after them." Eric answered from across the street.

"Exactly." Babamon agreed.

"Go after them? We can't even beat them. We wouldn't stand a chance."

"Now what sort of leader talks like that?" Babamon smiled.

"I'm no leader, after what I keep doing to Koromon."

"Stop sulking Tai, she's right." Kari now stood up, to Tai's surprise. "Ken and Yolei are escaping with the souls of Dinohumon and Ex-Veemon, we need to go after them."

"And we need to find Rika and Izzy too." Eric added.

"And save Matt and Joe, and all the other digidestined who were corrupted by Devimon." T.K. joined Eric and Kari behind Babamon, who all looked at Tai with determination.

"Then that's what we'll do."

***

"He should have been here by now..." Babamon stood at the edge of the forest, staring out into the desert.

"I hope he didn't get caught." Kari muttered to the side.

"Omekamon may be clumsy but he's a very careful soldier, he wouldn't allow himself to get captured." Babamon defended her friend.

"I think I see him!" Tai pointed out into the desert, where a thin trail of dust was heading towards them. They could soon see the familiar form of Omekamon dashing towards them in the distance. He quickly closed the gap between the two sides, grinding to a halt in front of them and creating a large dust cloud where they stood.

"Hey, a welcoming party!" Omekamon smiled. "I wasn't expecting this, but it's a great surprise anyway."

"We aren't here for pleasantries Omekamon," Babamon interrupted, "A tragedy has occurred in Shichiri."

"Oh no, it wasn't the evil tamers was it?" Omekamon's eyes lit up with worry.

"How would you know who attacked?" Eric asked concerned.

"All of the evil tamers suddenly left their mountain and started heading out in different directions, so I immediately started running back here to warn you, but they apparently made it first. Did they do any serious damage?"

"They destroyed the market," Babamon sighed, "And a good portion of our forces as well, including Dinohumon and Ex-Veemon."

"No..." Omekamon's face filled with dread as Babamon recited what had happened in the past few hours to Omekamon.

"We're going after them Omekamon, so you don't have to worry." Tai reassured the devastated champion. "We're going to find them and destroy Cherrymon and Paildramon, and free Dinohumon and Ex-Veemon's digi-cores."

"Then I'm coming with you." Omekamon stood a foot under Tai, but was staring determined at the leader.

"Are you sure that's a good idea Omekamon?" Babamon interjected from the side. "After all, there are at least two good ultimates on their side, and you are only a champion."

"I am not only a champion, and besides, you're going to need someone to lead you to their base. You can't just go through the desert blindly, now can you?"

"We were just going to follow the river." T.K. piped from the back.

"I'm still going!" Omekamon announced.

"I'm just not sure-" Babamon was interrupted.

"It'll be fine," Tai said, "We'll need as much help as we can get."

"Thank you." Omekamon stretched his odd metallic hand to the goggled boy, who shook it sturdily.

"I'm coming too!" A voice behind them forced the group to look into the forest and see Agumon Hakase, draped in his lab coat and graduation cap, making his way out of the forest.

"Hakase, why would you want to go with them?" Babamon asked in confusion.

"Stingmon didn't just absorb Ex-Veemon's digi-core, he bonded it with his own so he could digivolve to Paildramon. You'll need someone who can separate the two cores once Paildramon is destroyed."

"We'd be honored if you came." Kari smiled.

"Very well then," Babamon rubbed the temple of her head, "If that's your decision, then I cannot stop you, I wish you ten the best of luck on your journey."

"Thank you Babamon, and don't worry, we won't let you down." Tai started off towards the desert, Omekamon jumping in front of him to lead the way. Babamon smiled, happy the digidestined had set their sights on something that could distract them from the recent failure. She watched the trail of digimon and humans go off into the desert, Kari, Salamon, and Hakase following close behind Tai with T.K., Patamon, Motimon, and Eric with a bag of supplies on his back bringing up the rear.

"Good luck!"

***

"Why can't we just follow the river again?" Tai moaned again as Omekamon marched confidently in the front of the group.

"Because that's the most obvious way that we could come." Omekamon sighed. "If we just walk right up to their doorstep, then they're going to know that we're coming."

"We need to worry about that later," Eric interjected, "Before we even get near the evil tamers we're going to have to find Rika and Izzy."

"What makes you think Rika will come back?" Kari questioned.

"Well she's had about two weeks to calm down, so she should be good." T.K. said.

"Even if she hasn't calmed down she has to join back up with us anyway, we can't waste any more time than what's necessary." Tai spoke from the head of the group.

"Realistically the evil tamers aren't going anywhere, so we do have some time to get prepared." Hakase spoke this time.

"We can't give them any time to get any stronger, especially Paildramon." Eric replied. "We need to take on the evil digidestined at their weakest, and right now Paildramon is a lot weaker than he will be in the next few days."

"I don't want to take the chance that Paildramon will get too strong, and we won't be able to separate Ex-Veemon's digi-core." Omekamon became serious. "We'll go find your friends and then get back to the mission at hand." Omekamon adjusted his course. A groan from Tai's arm quickly changed the conversation.

"Koromon, you okay?" Tai looked down at the small digimon, who groaned before replying.

"I'm fine Tai, don't worry. Listen, I just want to apolo-"

"You have to stop apologizing so much little guy." Tai smiled at the digimon. "Listen, it's my fault just as much as it is yours, maybe more, so why don't we try to put this behind us okay?" Koromon nodded, then leaped out of Tai's arms.

"Well, in the interest of putting things behind us, why don't I walk for a change." Koromon landed on the ground as his rookie form. "Besides, you're kind of sweaty."

"What?" Tai took a whiff of the air around him, then struggled to keep from gagging. "Egh, sorry about that- desert heat."

"I'm sure."

"Hey guys!" Eric called to Tai and Agumon, who had somehow fallen behind the group. "Get to work. You aren't being paid to believe in the power of your dreams!"

"Disregarding the many parts of that statement that make no sense, I'm not getting paid." Tai replied as the two caught up to the group.

"Eh, what can I say, I like quotes."

"I've noticed."

"I hear something." Motimon muttered from Eric's arms, surprising everyone.

"That's some great insect hearing you got there, what's going on Motimon?" Eric inquired.

"I don't know, it's like a rumbling or something."

"What kind of rumbling, is something coming?" Kari whined.

"I don't know, it sounds more like an... earthquake."

"I don't feel anything Motimon." Hakase opposed.

"Yeah, I think us other digimon would feel something if there were an earthquake." Omekamon agreed.

"No, it's definitely coming, I just can't figure out where." Said Motimon.

"I think I might hear something." Salamon suddenly piped. "I can hear some sort of rumbling too."

"Now I hear it." The large eared Patamon agreed.

"Well this isn't gonna be good." Eric said ominously. As the team stood there, they all began to make out the noise Motimon, Salamon, and Patamon had described. The low rumbling suddenly became louder and louder, coming from no direction in particular, but rather seemed to radiate all around them.

"What is it?" Tai questioned.

"I don't know, but it's almost here!" Omekamon announced as the group pulled together in a defensive position. A piercing crash then surprised them. They were all knocked outward as a tall structure streamed up from the ground. The ten scurried up as a tall rocky formation rose higher and higher into the air.

"What's that?" Tai looked up as he, Agumon, Salamon, Kari, and Omekamon regrouped on one side of the mound. On the other side of the mound, Eric and T.K., along with Omekamon and their partners, had regrouped as well. The ten watched as the dull mound slowly rose into the air, picking up speed. By the time it reached the height of Tai and Eric's heads, the group could see that it was beginning to branch out. "That's it?"

"I guess so." Eric observed from the other side. They were soon proven wrong. Suddenly, the mound began to rise rapidly, pulling out of the ground at racing speeds. The sand under the team began to shift, and soon the two groups were being knocked back in opposite directions. The mound quickly towered into the air, radiating outwards as the now obvious mountain began to form in the middle of the desert.

"We have to move!" Tai grabbed Kari's arm and ran away from the ever growing mountain, Agumon, Salamon, and Hakase following close behind. They dashed across the desert sand as it was swept up by the growing tower, the foot of the mountain racing after them.

"It's getting closer, we can't outrun it!" Agumon noted as they quickly began to lose the race. They all braced themselves as the earthy tower swept them up, rising them quickly into the air, high above desert sand they had tried so desperately to stay upon.

"Where are we going?" Tai inquired as the six gripped onto the slope, watching the desert escape them. Agumon replied a sarcastic yet truthful answer.

"Up."

***

"What do you want with me?" A tall humanoid stood shrouded in darkness, the only indication he was there being the vibrant red, white, and yellow colors of his garb. Tai watched the figure look up into the dark air, and following the creature's eyesight, saw six pairs of eyes looking down on him.

"We want to make you an offer, Piedmon. We want you to join us and help regain our former glory." A small yet shrill voice responded from above the digimon, who Tai now identified as the mysterious Piedmon.

"As I'm sure you know, my last comrades turned on me and banished me here to this hell of a dimension." Piedmon replied solemnly yet smugly.

"We do not want you to be our ally, we want you to serve us for our purposes." Piedmon chuckled in response.

"A servant, eh? That doesn't seem much better. Besides, I don't even know exactly what you want from me."

"I thought I made it clear, we want you to serve us." The shrill voice stated.

"And how exactly would I do that? There isn't much to do in the dark plane, as I'm sure you are aware."

"We have certain abilities that might help an individual besides ourselves escape this dimension, under certain conditions."

"I see, you're the masters, aren't you? If you'll recall, it was my job to make sure you never escaped this prison."

"It was before your friends turned on you, just like our allies turned on us. We are the same Piedmon." All six voices began to speak simultaneously. "We were betrayed by the ones closest to us, and now it is time to take our revenge. With you by our side, we can escape from this dimension, and I can finally return to my rightful throne as ruler of the digital world!"

"And what makes you think that I would rather go back to that world? What makes you think I'm not happier here?"

"You cannot get your revenge within the dark dimension." A smile then formed across Piedmon's lips, barely noticeable in the darkness.

"So how are you going to get me out of here, when you yourselves are trapped within this dimension along with me? What are these 'skills' that you speak of?"

"You shall soon see. So, we have a deal then?"

"As long as I can get revenge on those so-called 'friends' of mine, then you can consider your every wish as my command."

"Perfect." Tai looked on in fear and awe. Who were these mysterious digimon, and why was he here, in this darkness, watching them. And what was this deal they were making. Who were these friends that had wronged them, and what exactly were they planning to do? Could this have anything to do with the dark beacon and Devimon? Could He have been a servant of these dark creatures. Tai sighed in confusion, not knowing what to make of this situation. This was a mistake. Piedmon heard the sigh, turning his head to see Tai, standing in the darkness a few dozen feet away from the crowd.

"What are you...?" Piedmon stared at the boy from the shadows, slowly turning around so he could make out what he was seeing. His eyes suddenly spread wide open. He glared at the boy, now walking towards him. "Get out," He reached his arm behind his back, reaching for one of the rapiers strapped to him. He wrapped his fingers around the hilt, slowly sliding the blade out and pulling it down to his side. He then ran towards Tai with anger, his sword raised to attack. Tai tried to move, desperately trying to escape the path of the angry demon, to no avail.

"Get out of m..." The world around Tai suddenly began to swirl away, the attacking Piedmon dissipating as well. A swirl of darkness then consumed Tai, pulling around Tai in chaos. Tai flinched away from the chaos, trying to escape the hell.

"Get away, no, get away from me!" Tai flailed violently as the chaos consumed him, wrapping around his body and filling his very soul. "Help!!!!!!" Tai screamed in agony as he was pulled into the dark void of nothingness that had become his mind.

***

"No!" Tai jerked upwards, breathing heavily as he stared into the dark cavern. He stood up from his rocky bed, shaking as he walked over to a large, smooth stone nearby that was suitable for sitting on. He sat down, catching his breath and discovering the cold sweat that had consumed him during the nightmare. He looked around the cavern, relieved to see Kari, Salamon, Agumon, and Hakase sleeping a few yards away from him.

"It was just a dream," Tai sighed with relief. "It was only a dream."

"What was only a dream?" Hakase lifted his head out of slumber and looked up at Tai, who was beginning to recover from the surprisingly damaging nightmare.

"It's nothing Hakase, you should just go back to sleep." Tai returned to his overview of the cave that the group had found within the mountain to take refuge in for the night. Since they had been separated from Eric, T.K., and the other digimon, they would need to rest and recover so they could search the massive mountain they now found themselves on, which had stopped growing a few hours ago.

"Tai, if something is bothering you, ya need to talk about it."

"I'm fine Hakase, I promise."

"Well, if you're sure." Hakase drooped his head down, ready to go back to sleep.

"Hakase wait," Tai objected, finally coming across a subject that worried him.

"What is it Tai?"

"Have you ever heard of a digimon called Piedmon?"

"Piedmon? No, I'm afraid I haven't. Did you see this digimon in your dream?"

"Uh-huh."

"What did he look like?"

"He was this tall human-like digimon. He was dressed in some colorful red and yellow clothes, and he had this black and white mask on his head. I think he also might have been wearing a tutu."

"Sounds like an odd digimon, I'm certain I've never seen anyone quite like that. If Babamon were here, I'm sure she could give you a firm answer. Just what was this dream you had Tai?"

"I uh... I was in some sort of dark dimension. This digimon Piedmon was talking to six other digimon, and they were making a deal of some sort to escape what they called their prison and take revenge on the friends that betrayed them."

"You say you saw a dark dimension?"

"Yeah, they called it the dark plane."

"That's interesting."

"Why?"

"The dark plane is a place where the data and digi-cores of completely corrupted digimon go after they've been destroyed."

"I thought digimon could be purified though?"

"Not all of us. Some digimon are just so evil, that when they die they are automatically drawn into the dark plane to spend an eternity there. That's most likely what happened to Devimon."

"Wish I'd known that before."

"Why is that?"

"Well it might have kept Rika around if she knew that we wouldn't have to deal with Devimon's dark data. Wait, then why was Devimon able to take control of me and Agumon after he had already died?"

"That's most likely because he left a part of himself in your crest before he died, and when you started to express some darker qualities, then he was able to manifest the part that was left of him to take control of you two."

"Okay then." Tai took a breath, switching the direction of the conversation back to his nightmare. "So who do you think all of those other digimon were in my dream, and why did I know about them?"

"The digital world is a complicated place Tai. Sometimes thoughts or memories can escape our heads as data and accidentally enter another being. What you just dreamed could be vitally important to stopping the evil tamers, especially if Devimon has a boss."

"Great, that's just what we need: someone stronger than Devimon to come and start pushing us around."

"Or maybe the fact of the dark plane flowed into your head and your imagination made up those other digimon."

"I'd much prefer that."

"I think all of us would."

***

"So what do you think they're doing here?" A small digimon, shrouded in darkness, asked the human by his side.

"I don't know, but I intend to find out." The human responded.

""So what do you want to do to them?"

"I think a little brutal beating might suffice for now, then after that we can torture them and figure out how the hell they got off of File Island."

"Can I do the brutal beating? You know how much I love that part."

"Of course, I wouldn't deny you that."

"He he, thanks, now let's get started."

"Patience, we should wait for the right moment."

"Did _you _actually just say that?"

"I'm just kidding Betamon, go beat the living shit out of them."

"It will be my pleasure."

***

"Tai, I can tell something is still wrong with you," Hakase argued to the boy as he went back to his makeshift bed of stone. "You should let it out. Does it have anything to do with your dream?"

"It's... it's just that..." Tai trailed off.

"It's just what?"

"It's not the first dream like that that I've had before."

"You've seen these digimon before?"

"No, not Piedmon or anyone, but over the past few weeks I've been having these constant illusions in my sleep about some sort of darkness."

"Any darkness in particular?"

"In one of the first dreams I had, I saw some sort of digimon in the darkness, but I couldn't make it out. I just remember it coming at me with its hand stretched forward, like it was about to attack."

"When did you first start having these nightmares Tai?"

"I um, I think-" Before Tai could finish, Salamon and Agumon jerked out of their stony beds and dove for cover, grabbing Kari in the process. Hakase snatched Tai as well, jumping after them. "What-?"

"Ice Blast!" A familiar stream of ice smashed into the ground where Tai and the others once lay, blasting the rock into thousands of pieces of debris and freezing it into an icy tomb made by the attacks aftermath.

"What was that?" Kari screamed as she was jerked awake by the explosion.

"Seadramon." Tai stated with contempt as the five looked up at the sea snake staring down at them angrily.

"Aw, I'm so glad to see that you haven't forgotten me, I'll be sure to thank you by beating you senseless quickly! Tail Swifter!" Seadramon swung his heavy tail down at the group, forcing them to jump out of harms way and separate into two sides, Agumon and Tai to the champion's left and Kari, Salamon, and Hakase to his right. "Stop moving, your just making this harder on yourselves."

"Hell no!" Agumon yelled to the snake, who then coiled up and rose above Tai and the dinosaur, choosing his target. "Digivolve me Tai, I can handle him."

"I don't want you going to ultimate, you might become SkullGreymon again-" Tai objected.

"I don't need to be an ultimate to handle this guy, Greymon's enough."

"Okay then."

"Stop talking and start running," Seadramon smiled as he began to inch over them. "I've decided I like the chase."

"You're not as powerful as you think you are Seadramon, and I'm going to prove it!" Tai lifted his digivice into the air.

**"Agumon digivolve to... Greymon!"**

"Ha! You're going to try to beat me by digivolving? Listen, things don't always-" Seadramon's ego gave Greymon all the time he needed.

"Nova Blast!" Greymon's fiery breath slammed into Seadramon's neck, knocking him backwards and giving Greymon the opportunity to run towards him with his head lowered for an attack.

"Cheap trick weakling- Tail Swifter!" Seadramon swung his tail down on Greymon's head, who had a relatively easy time knocking it out of the way with the bony plate on his cranium. He continued his charge at Seadramon, slamming into the serpent's chest and knocking him into a wall a few yards away.

"How did Greymon get so strong?" Kari questioned as she, Salamon, and Hakase joined up with Tai. "I thought Seadramon was stronger than him because he's been a champion longer."

"It's a good question Kari but we might not want to complain about it now, as long as Greymon's winning." Tai replied to his sister.

"Your partner has gained so much strength as a champion because he ascended to ultimate." Hakase replied to both of them as Greymon and Seadramon entered a wrestling match. "When a digimon reaches a new level, their lower levels reach their maximum potential."

"That's convenient." Tai remarked.

"That's useful, go help Greymon out Salamon!" Kari grabbed the digivice attached to her shorts.

**"Salamon digivolve to... Gatomon!"** The feline leaped into the battle, pouncing on Seadramon's head and knocking him backwards, off of Greymon. Both champions regrouped a dozen yards away from Seadramon as the sea serpent pulled himself off of the ground.

"You're not strong enough to defeat the both of us Seadramon, we've grown too powerful since our last encounter." Greymon growled to the digimon.

"I despise you Greymon, but you're wrong about one thing." Seadramon smiled.

"And what's that?"

"That he's not strong enough to take you on!" A yell from across the large cavern directed the hero destined's heads towards Zoe, who's digivice and crest were glowing a dark color.

"Aw damn."

**"Seadramon digivolve to..."** A new serpent stood in front of the two champions, with a red scale coat lined with numerous fins. A large metal horn topped off the yellow scale plate upon his head.

"Who's that?" Tai murmured.

"MegaSeadramon." Hakase replied worriedly. "The evolved-"

"We got it from here, thanks."

"You don't have a handle on anything, Lightning Javelin!" A thunder erupted from the horn and scattered towards Gatomon and Greymon, who jumped out of the way just before the lightning slammed into the ground once under them. Greymon and Gatomon rolled to the sides, poised to defend.

"Nova Blast!" Greymon directed the ultimates attention to him, blasting an ineffective flame into the digimon's face while Gatomon came in for a sneak attack.

"Lighting-" Gatomon jumped up at MegaSeadramon's jaw, but the digimon knew she was coming and slammed his tail into the felines body, knocking her back over to Tai, Kari, and Hakase.

"Gatomon, are you okay?' Kari came to the digimon's side, lifting her off of the ground as the cat brushed debris off of her body.

"She's too strong for me Kari."

"Can't you digivolve?"

"I don't have the strength after the battle with Cherrymon yesterday night. It took too much out of me."

"No..." Kari looked to Tai, who had joined at the girl's side along with Hakase as they watched Greymon dodge a series of attacks from MegaSeadramon. "Tai, you have to digivolve Greymon!"

"What? I can't do that, what if he becomes SkullGreymon again?" He opposed.

"That's just a chance you're going to have to take Tai," Hakase responded in Kari's place. "We can't afford to let MegaSeadramon beat us."

"But..." Tai looked over at Greymon, who was struggling to take on the powerful titan. "Okay, I'll do my best." Tai wrapped his fingers around his digivice, but before any data/energy could circulate something tackled him from the side. He was slammed to the ground by Zoe, who had sneaked around the battle to make sure that no one else interfered. "Get off of me!"

"Not before I do this!" Zoe snatched the surpised boy's digivice and tossed it across the cavern, where it landed with a scatter a dozen yards away. Tai retaliated by kicking the girl off of him, springing to his feat and running towards the hopefully still intact device. "No!" Zoe jumped towards him, tackling the boy's legs and slamming him onto the ground again. As Tai struggled with the girl, MegaSeadramon resorted to smacking the beaten Greymon wrapped in his tail against the wall repeatedly.

"Tai-agh!-help!" Greymon screamed hopelessly as both he and his partner were prevented from doing anything to help the situation. Hakase in the meantime tried to run towards Zoe to get her off of Tai, but MegaSeadramon saw the move and fired a Mega Ice Blast at the digimon, freezing him in a block of ice. Kari had at that time dragged the wounded Gatomon into a corner of the cavern, away from the fighting.

"What are we going to do Gatomon?" She quivered.

"I don't know, but we can't just sit here, I'm going to help Greymon-egh!" The feline winced as she tried to stand, the pain from MegaSeadramon's tail swipe still affecting her.

"You're too weak to do anything Gatomon, stay here and I'll go grab Tai's digivice."

"Agh!" A scream came from the digimon battle's side of the room as Greymon was thrown into the wall of the cavern violently, degenerating him to Agumon. The rookie dinosaur rolled to the ground unconsciously as MegaSeadramon snaked his way over to Kari and Gatomon, who stared at him with fear.

"Now it's time to finish off the rest of you pests." He opened his mouth, prepared to fire his deadly attack.

"Rapid Fire!"

"Talisman of Light!" Two attacks flew out of thin air, slamming into MegaSeadramon and knocking him unconscious.


	25. Two Weeks Ago

**Chapter Twenty Five: Two Weeks Ago**

"Rika, how long are we going to keep walking?" Izzy moaned as he struggled to drag himself and the sleeping Terriermon on his shoulder after Rika and Renamon, who were bridging the gap between the two of them as they walked along the river that cut through the sandy desert they were in.

"Until we find somewhere comfortable to rest for the night Izzy," She growled, "If you have a problem with that then go back to the Colosseum." Izzy groaned in reply.

"Rika, the Colosseum is almost five hours back that way," Izzy tossed his tired arm in a backwards motion, "Besides, I came with you so you wouldn't have to be out in the middle of the digital world alone."

"So you didn't come with me because you agree with me then?" Rika stopped and turned to Izzy, seeming more annoyed than angry.

"No." Izzy struggled to say.

"Figures," Rika rolled her eyes and continued walking. "Besides, me and Renamon can take care of ourselves."

"You know that's not true Rika," Renamon spoke from her partner's side, "There are possibly hundreds of ultimate level digimon here that I cannot handle by myself. If we are to have any chance of surviving this continent, then we must have at least one of our friends with us. Maybe you should be a little more grateful that he was concerned about you." Rika sighed, seeing Renamon's logic, then twisted her head to speak to Izzy.

"It's okay, I heard." Izzy smiled from his exhausted position behind them. "You don't have to say anything just for my benefit."

"Still, maybe we could walk faster later if we took about an hour break to get some food and water." She suggested, calming down from her furious march into the desert.

"I thought we'd never get to stop!" Terriermon popped his head up and tugged on Izzy's head, directing him towards the river. "Let's get going, I'm starving!"

"Ow, Terriermon that hurts!" Izzy winced was he was dragged over to the river.

"Stop crying, you big baby. I'm hungry, and when a digimon's hungry, there isn't much that can stop him. Now get to fishing!"

"Come on Renamon, let's get some food and rest." Rika slipped off the makeshift fishing pole strapped to her chest and walked over to the river.

"At least she's calmed down." Renamon whispered to herself as she followed the girl over to the river.

***

"Oh god..." Rika stared at the inconvenient site in front of them, groaning as she slapped her palm to her face and let it slowly slip downwards.

"At least something good came out of it, we made it out of the desert." Izzy tried to comfort the girl, who turned to him with a fire in her eyes.

"At least something good came out of this?" Rika threw her hand in a wide sweeping motion, revealing the three raging rivers that were all converging into the one waterway that they had been following the past couple days. "Nothing good can come out of this Izzy. Datamon said 'follow the river' to get to the evil tamer's base. There are three rivers!"

"I see that."

"So which one do we follow?" Rika looked over the rocky terrain they were now in, they now lost as each new river obviously flowed down from somewhere.

"Maybe we could try each one."

"Is that a serious suggestion? Do you have any idea how much time that would take?"

"No, and a very long time."

"Exactly!"

"Izzy, we could try asking them." Terriermon tugged at the boy's neck, pointing with one ear at an object on the shore of the far left river in the distance.

"Is that... a town?" Rika asked excitedly.

"It sure is," Renamon replied. "Me and Terriermon could go in there and try to find some reliable directions."

"How do we get over there?" Izzy questioned.

"We take a ride!" Terriermon jumped from Izzy's shoulder to Renamon's head. Izzy and Rika then turned to the fox, who sighed in compliance.

"You constantly find new ways to annoy me, don't you Terriermon?" Renamon grunted as she tossed the bunny-dog off of her head.

"It's my hobby." After a half a minute of Terriermon's torturous taunts at Renamon, Rika evolved the rookie to Kyubimon. The two humans and Terriermon then leaped onto the fox's back, and she took a running jump at the deep river, crossing it with ease. She then ran up to a point about fifty yards away from the stone wall that surrounded the town, and made her cargo disembark before returning to Renamon.

"You'd better wait here, we don't want any sort of incident to occur." She and Terriermon then took off towards the town, entering a large archway that led into the city, disappearing around a corner.

"So..." Izzy began speaking as the two pre-teens stood there in wait, "Have you given any thought to what we're going to do next?"

"What do you mean?" Rika responded.

"With the evil tamers; how are we supposed to take them on and purge the dark needles out of them when we can't even digivolve our partners to ultimate?"

"I... I figured we would work it out when we got there. Besides, when I initially left I figured T.K. would come with us."

"So you just figured Angemon would take care of it? Don't you think that if it was that easy to get things done around here then we would have defeated the Devimon and the evil digidestined by day three?"

"Izzy-"

"Besides, remember Eric told us that in the few hours that the dark needle was barely in him it had branched out a few inches. The ones in Joe, Matt, and the others are probably even deeper, I doubt Angemon has the ability to purge such deep evil roots."

"Dammit Izzy-" Rika began to yell back, but she was interrupted by a call from Renamon behind them.

"Rika, Izzy, you should come see this!" Renamon yelled to the two, who were surprised to hear Renamon tell them to come into the city. They warily complied, stopping at the arched gate where the fox digimon was waiting for them.

"What's wrong Renamon?" Rika questioned her partner.

"Come inside, you'll see." She led the two through the arched passageway that was the city gates. They came face to face with a building upon entering the city, so they rounded the corner to get onto one of the main streets of the mysterious village.

"What's wrong Rena-" Rika stopped mid sentence as she looked over the scene in front of her. The village on the other side of the building was a disaster area. Houses and streets had been blown to shreds, and there was not one sign of life within the broken town. The three walked across the relatively small village to the town center, where Terriermon was pushing through rubble to see if there were any survivors.

"What happened here?" Izzy asked solemnly.

"We're not sure." Renamon replied.

"It looks like there was a fight." Rika placed her palm against one of the few intact villages. The wall looked charred, as if a fiery attack had landed there.

"Someone probably came here and destroyed all of the digimon." Terriermon joined the conversation, having given up his shift through the rubble. "Bastards..."

"Who do you think it was?" Rika questioned.

"I doubt it was the DBDW, they don't seem like the type of group to turn on their own people." Izzy observed.

"It was probably the evil tamers, destroying the digimon here to absorb their digi-cores, or at least try to." Renamon sighed.

"How could the evil tamers do so much damage?" Izzy asked the fox.

"They've probably reached ultimate by now." Terriermon replied instead, jumping back onto Izzy's shoulder.

"At the very least we're on the right track." Rika sighed.

"Yeah, but if the evil tamers are destroying digimon and absorbing their digi-cores, then we won't stand a ghost of a chance against them. We'll need help." Izzy said.

"Don't start with me Izumi."

"Rika, you can't still-"

"Look out!" Renamon snatched the two tamers and leaped from the spot, narrowly avoiding the rocket blasts that crashed into the spot they were just in. Renamon then dashed behind one of the intact buildings and dropped the two tamers, peering her head around the corner to see who had shot at them.

"Come out of there," The mono-tone voice commanded. "There is no escape." Renamon then pulled her head back into the alley.

"It's Kazu and Guardromon." She quivered.

"That's just great." Rika growled.

"Can we handle him?" Izzy questioned.

"Not if he can reach ultimate." Terriermon replied.

"We don't have much of a choice," Renamon said, "We're under one of the few pieces of cover in the town. We won't escape easily."

"I'm giving you one more chance," Kazu commanded from the square they had just fled from, "Come out here or Guardromon will come in there after you."

"Okay Renamon, go for it." Rika swiped the digivice from her hip.

"You too Terriermon." Izzy grabbed the device clipped to his laptop bag.

**"Renamon digivolve to... Kyubimon!"**

**"Terriermon digivolve to... Gargomon!" **The two champions leaped from the alley, facing off against Kazu and Guardromon who were stationed in the center of the square. Izzy and Rika came up behind the nine-tailed yellow fox and the large bunny-dog with blue jeans.

"Give up, you can't win." Kazu stated with no emotion.

"We outnumber your metal head partner Kazu," Gargomon pointed his Gatling gun at Gargomon, who just kept staring at them without fear, anger, or confidence.

"Is that your choice, to fight me?"

"Damn right it is!"

"Very well then." Kazu tapped the screen of the digivice on his hip with his index finger, activating the device and sending a stream of data/energy towards Guardromon. A second, darker light then came out of Kazu's chest, also enveloping the machine.

"Crap."

**"Andromon!"** The new silver humanoid stared at them with a contemplative look on his face, analyzing both of his opponents.

"Get somewhere safe Rika." Kyubimon muttered as she prepared to strike at the android.

"What?" The fox's partner responded.

"Get out of here, I don't want you getting hurt."

"But Renamon-"

"Rika don't argue!" Izzy snatched the girl's wrist and ran back to the alley they had hidden in, clearing the way for Gargomon and Kyubimon to commence the battle.

"Dragon Wheel!"

"Gargo Laser!" Kyubimon and Gargomon jumped straight in, launching their powerful attacks at the android, who stood still for a second as the attacks approached, then leaped into the air and let the lasers and the windy dragon crash into the earth where he once stood. Kazu had also dodged, placing himself also behind one of the intact buildings.

"My turn, Lightning Blade!" Andromon sliced his arm through the air, sending a wave of electric power speeding towards the two champions. They quickly rolled out of the way, letting the beam mash into the ground.

"Bunny Pummel!" Gargomon bounced off of the ground, thrusting his arm into Andromon's chest. The attack did nothing but crunch the metal in Gargomon's fist, knocking the bunny-dog backwards onto the ground.

"Fox Tail Inferno!" Nine flames suddenly slammed into Andromon, who shook off the attack easily before turning to Kyubimon.

"Gatling Attack!" Andromon's chest panel opened up in a similar fashion to MetalGreymon and fired two fleshy missiles from his chest. The two fish-like weapons opened their mouths and began automatic fire at Kyubimon. The champion leaped out of the way, running across the courtyard as the two missiles chased her.

"Damn!" She spun around, preparing an attack. "Dragon Wheel!" Kyubimon raced towards the two missiles as they fired into her flaming body.

"They don't stand a chance," Rika muttered from the alley. She watched as Gargomon picked himself up a few feet in front of her and Izzy. "What do we do?"

"You need to go." Gargomon stated, surprising the girl.

"What?"

"You two need to head back down the river and try to find Tai and the others. That's the only way we're going to be able to stop this guy."

"We can't leave you and Kyubimon here by yourself!" Izzy objected. "You'll be creamed!"

"We'll all be destroyed if Andromon finishes us off and leaves you with no protection, now get going." Rika tried to object.

"But-"

"No, he's right, let's move!" Izzy ran down the opposite side of the alley as Gargomon leaped back into the battle.

"But-"

"Rika!" Izzy's scream drew the angry girl over to him, and together they made their way back to the city gate. They could still here the screams and crashes of the three digimon in battle in the city behind them once they dashed into the desert and made their way to the river.

"We need to find a way back across." Izzy said, looking across the river in observation.

"Even if we find Tai, there's no guarantee that we'll be able to stop Andromon. Tai doesn't have his partner anymore, and even if he did he would probably just digivolve the poor guy into SkullGreymon again. We should just go back in there and handle this ourselves."

"That wouldn't happen, and you need to stop blaming him for that." Izzy seemed only half invested in what he said, as he then ran over to a nearby palm tree on the banks of the river.

"Why shouldn't I blame him, it's his fault."

"No it's not, Devimon was controlling him and SkullGreymon, he wasn't able to control his actions once Devimon got loose." Izzy was now pressing against the tree in an effort to see how well rooted it was.

"Devimon was in him?"

"Yes, his anger over the death of Datamon and his need to protect us corrupted Agumon's evolution." Izzy now had to focus more on his conversation with Rika and less on a way across the river.

"So it is his fault, if he hadn't let his anger get the best of him than it wouldn't have happened."

"It's not. Do we have to talk about this right now?"

"Yes we do. I don't want to go back and partner with someone who's going to get me or anyone else killed! So who's fault is it then?"

"It's yours Rika!" Izzy now forgot about the tree and was fully invested in the conversation.

"What? How the hell do you figure that?"

"You're the one who pushed him into the big leader roll. You're the one who convinced him that he needed to protect us until we could find our crests and digivolve to ultimate!"

"We all did that!"

"But you're the one that convinced him most!"

"Why would I have any influence over Tai's thinking than anybody else, he doesn't-"

"Because he likes you Rika! Any idiot can see that!" These lasts words shocked the girl, who stumbled backwards a few feet, then tried to speak.

"What... how do you-"

"He likes you, so when you asked him to be the leader, when you told him you needed his help, that affected him more than me, or Eric, or T.K."

"I didn't..."

"What? You didn't know? Maybe that's because you're so caught up in your own anger that you can't see what's happening around you. Our partners are getting their asses kicked, and they need help. Now Salamon can digivolve to ultimate, and I'm going to find those four somehow and get them here!" Izzy began kicking the tree in a desperate attempt to knock it down. "Damn, stupid tree."

"I'm sorry," Rika spoke, "I didn't mean to be so stupid."

"It doesn't matter, just help me get this thing down so we can use it as a raft."

"Right." Rika came to the boy's side, and together they began to ram into the sand rooted tree. Their efforts were in vain however.

"This one's too webbed into the ground, we'll have to go down river to find a looser one." A series of bursts from under them surprised both Izzy and Rika, who leaped away from the river to find out where the sound had come from.

"What the-" Both tamers stared as two glowing tablets hovered in front of them, and then slid into their digivices.

"This is convenient." Izzy observed.

"It doesn't matter, let's go help Kyubimon and Gargomon." Rika ran off towards the walled village.

"No arguments here." Izzy ran after her.

***

"Gargo- agh!" Gargomon was knocked back down to the ground as Andromon swung his metal arm into the rabbit's stomach. The champion doubled over, landing next to the defeated Kyubimon.

"I told you that you were no match for me, you should have listened." Andromon stated in a victorious yet sterile tone.

"You're not gonna win, we have something that you don't-" Gargomon tried to taunt the digimon.

"And what would that be, your friends? After I destroy you, tracking them down will be easy. You might as well give up now."

"Never..." Kyubimon lifted herself up, propping Gargomon to his feet as well. The two battered digimon stared at Andromon with contempt as he began to speak, but was interrupted.

"Kyubimon!" Rika and Izzy appeared to the left of the died down battle, prompting stares from the three digimon.

"We told you to get out of here!" Gargomon yelled at them tiredly.

"You should have listened to them." Andromon stated, turning to the two tamers. "Since I don't have to track you down, you'll die much sooner."

"You sure about that?" Izzy and Rika pressed the lone button on their digivices, and a stream of light then appeared from both and poured into Gargomon and Kyubimon. A second light then emerged from the two children's chests.

"Damn."

**"Gargomon digivolve to..."**

**"Kyubimon digivolve to..."**

"Well this just isn't fair, lightning blade!" Andromon rebelled against the two digimon, firing his electric attack at the two shining creatures. The process was finished before he could hit, however.

**"Rapidmon!"**

**"Taomon!"**

The two new digimon leaped out of the way, the beam slamming into the ground harmlessly. Andromon then looked up at his new enemies. Rapidmon had taken on a new look, his body more rabbit-human than rabbit-dog, and green cylindrical armor covering all but his legs and arms. A large double sided missile launcher was strapped to his back, covered in the shadow from the digimon's enormous ears. Taomon was also more human-like than her previous form, her tail covered by the ancient clothing she now wore, while a very large paint brush rested in her palm.

"Congratulations, you made it to ultimate, but you still will not defeat me. I have absorbed too many digi-cores to be defeated-"

"Less talking more fighting, Rapid Fire!" Rapidmon sprung into battle, lifting his gauntlet covered arms and firing an attack similar to his Gargo Lasers at the android, who tried to leap out of the way. He wasn't fast enough, his leg bombarded with the ultimate rabbit's lasers. Andromon leaped off of the ground from his good leg and retreated to an intact building across the square.

"You won't defeat me, I've absorbed too many digi-cores to-"

"Digi-cores don't mean crap when stacked against a fresh evolution," Rapidmon grabbed the cannon on his back and twisted it onto his waist. "Miracle Missile!"

"Talisman of Light!" Taomon then joined the battle, drawing a symbol in the air with her brush and throwing it at Andromon.

"Lightning Blade!" Andromon deflected Rapidmon's missiles, but was caught off guard by the symbol in the air that crashed into his side. "Gah!" Andromon fell over in pain, grasping the building desperately as the symbol on his stomach began to burn.

"Let's finish this loser off." Rapidmon leaped into the air next to Taomon.

"Walk all over him Taomon!" Rika cheered to her partner.

"It will be my pleasure: Talisman of Light!" Taomon formed her attack.

"Tri-Beam!" Rapidmon shaped himself into a triangle, energy spheres forming on in his arms and feet. The three beams then formed a prism and fired at the weakened Andromon along with Taomon's attack.

"Agh!!!!" The two attacks shattered Andromon, degenerating him to Hagurumon.

"Ha! Too easy." Rapidmon smiled, victorious.

***

Two Weeks Later

"Who the hell are you?" MegaSeadramon lifted his throbbing head to match the gaze of the armored rabbit and the robed fox hovering in front of him.

"Does it really matter?" Rapidmon smiled. "You're not going to remember us in a few minutes anyway, because we're going to beat you to a bloody pulp! Bunny Pummel!" Rapidmon dashed over to the sea snake and slammed his fist into the ultimate."

"Talisman spell!" Taomon then fired a stream of red symbols from her long sleeves.

"Who are they?" Kari questioned from below the battle.

"I don't know but the green one knows Bunny Pummel, just like Gargomon." Gatomon replied.

"Is that Gargomon's ultimate form?" Tai muttered as he escaped the grasp of the now stunned Zoe, who was looking up in fear as MegaSeadramon was beaten easily by Rapidmon and Taomon.

"You're damn right it is!" A voice from behind them cheered. Tai turned his head to see two familiar faces running into the cavern from the passage that led to the dark night outside.

"Izzy! Rika!" Tai and Kari cheered as the two tamers rejoined with the brother and sister, who had regrouped at the frozen statue that was Hakase.

"Sorry we're late, it took a while to find you guys." Rika laughed.

"The big mountain popping up in the middle of the desert was a big help though." Izzy smiled.

"You think just because you've gotten reinforcements that you've won?" Zoe laughed as she amazingly appeared on the other side of the cavern. "I'm not just sitting I here by myself you know: Yolei! Ken! Joe!" Just then three digidestined came out of the back cavern with their digimon right behind them.

"Well that just sucks." Tai groaned.

**"Mushroomon, warp digivolve to... Cherrymon!"**

**"Wormmon, warp digivolve to... Paildramon!"**

**"Gomamon, warp digivolve to... Zudomon!"**

"Looks like we're going to need some help!" Rapidmon flew to the opposite side of the cavern to face against MegaSeadramon and its friends, who had regrouped and were staring them down. Rapidmon had grabbed the unconscious Agumon on the way and dropped him in Tai's arms.

"Okay, let's do this!" Rika cheered. "Walk all over them Renamon!"

"It will be my pleasure!"


	26. Triad

Some of you might be too pleased with this chapter. I kind of rushed through it, but I needed to do that to get to the next chapter. There is still a lot to come in the Omnibus, as I'm not even halfway through. There are still many battles to be fought, many evolutions and discoveries to be made, and questions that desperately need to be answered. Sorry if this chapter isn't what some of you were hoping for.

**Chapter Twenty Six: Triad**

"Vulcan's Hammer!"

"Desperado Blaster!"

"Rapid Fire!"

"Cherry Blast!"

"Mega Ice Blast!"

"Talisman Star!"

Six attacks collided in a fierce explosion in the middle of the cavern. The eight opposing children stood at opposite ends of the cave, watching.

"Sorry Tai, I don't think I have the strength to try to reach ultimate anymore." Agumon sighed as the two walked over to Tai's fortunately intact digivice and grabbed it off of the ground, then returning to the rest of the group.

"Don't worry about it Agumon, just reserve your energy." Tai replied.

"I don't think Taomon and Rapidmon can handle all of them alone," Kari observed, "We need to help them."

"There's not much we can do Kari," Tai sighed, "Gatomon and Agumon are too weak to digivolve."

"Don't be so sure of that," Rika spoke, "Taomon: a little help?" She called to her partner, who removed herself from the battle.

"What's wrong?" Taomon asked quickly, glancing back at Rapidmon, who was dodging the four digimon striking at him.

"Agumon and Gatomon need a tune up."

"Right then: Talisman Spell." Taomon took two red tags from her robe and slipped them quickly onto the two digimon's foreheads. "It'll take a minute." She then leaped away from the scene and returned to the battle but not before "Talisman of Light!" She fired an attack at the block of ice containing Hakase. The frost shattered and Hakase breathed heavily, shaking off the cold.

"What the-egh-egh!" Hakase coughed heavily.

"Are you okay Agumon Hakase?" Agumon, having recovered due to Taomon's spell, came to the familiar species' side.

"As good as someone who just went through a mini ice age can be. What happened?"

"Taomon helped you out." Tai helped lift the dinosaur to his feet.

"Taomon?" Hakase looked around, spotting Rika and Izzy. "Oh, that Renamon. Thank you Miss Nonaka."

"Rapid Fire!"

"Yeah, thank you Rika." Tai said warily to the girl.

"No problem lover boy." She chuckled.

"What?"

"It doesn't matter, Rapidmon needs help!" Izzy yelled from behind, watching his partner toil to handle both MegaSeadramon and Zudomon at once.

"Right, go get 'em Gatomon!" The feline leaped from Kari's arms as she regained her strength.

**"Angewomon!"**

"You ready Agumon?" Tai looked down at his partner nervously.

"As much as I can be." Agumon sighed.

"Then let's hope for the best. Go!" Agumon ran towards the battle, while Tai pressed a button on his digivice.

"You sure this is a wise choice Tai? What if your plan doesn't work?" Hakase muttered.

"It's a chance I'm going to have to take." Tai replied.

**"Agumon, warp digivolve to..."** Agumon's size began to grow exponentially.

"Come on buddy, please do this." Tai looked up fearfully, hoping for the best. As Agumon began to be covered by the dull gray light from Tai's digivice, the boy knew things would not go well.

"Damn." Hakase muttered under his breath.

**"SkullGreymon!"** The demon shook off the dark aura around him.

"What?" Izzy and Rika looked up in confusion.

"Why does this keep happening?"

"Aw damn, it's him again." Zudomon stared at the demon as he stomped over to the battle.

"If that's his ultimate form than he might have really defeated Devimon." Ken muttered.

"Why is he still doing that?" Izzy questioned as SkullGreymon arrived at the other seven digimon, who had all resorted to backing away in fear.

"We're not sure." Hakase replied.

"When I saw that Agumon was alive I assumed that Devimon had been purged out of him." Taomon stated as she grouped with Rapidmon and Angewomon.

"This isn't Devimon," Angewomon sighed, "Something is making Agumon digivolve inappropriately." SkullGreymon stood opposite them as his gaze flipped between the three digimon and their evil counterparts a few dozen feet away from them.

"I'm not waiting to have my skull bashed in again, Vulcan's Hammer!" Zudomon leaped into the air, slamming his hammer down at the bone dragon, who caught the turtle's arm and tossed him to the side of the cavern.

"I'll take this thing down: Desperado Blaster!" Paildramon began firing rapidly at SkullGreymon, who turned to him, as well as the other two digimon, and prepared to charge.

"Thanks for getting his attention you twerp, Cherry Blast!" Cherrymon began an attack as well.

"Lightning Javelin!" MegaSeadramon sent his electric attack at SkullGreymon as well.

"Dark Shot!" SkullGreymon retaliated, the attacks of his opponents bouncing off of him weakly as he rushed down on them. Paildramon caught the missile and slammed it into the ground behind them, providing a cover of debris as the three digimon leaped into the air and landed on their enemy.

"Tail Swifter!" MegaSeadramon crashed his tail into the digimon, knocking him onto the ground.

"We have to help him!" Angewomon flew forwards.

"Isn't he kind of oh, I don't know... evil?" Rapidmon inquired sarcastically.

"He's still Agumon, and we cannot let them destroy him- Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon fired a beam at Paildramon, who didn't see the attack coming as it slammed into his back and knocked him on the ground next to Zudomon.

"Agumon!" Tai screamed to his partner, who was struggling violently as he tried to get the two digimon off of him, with the help of his three allies. "Agumon, I know you can hear me!" The digimon twisted violently, knocking MegaSeadramon and Cherrymon off of him, who landed against Taomon and Rapidmon respectively. Angewomon came to Rapidmon's side, helping him with the more powerful digimon.

"Tai..." SkullGreymon glared at his partner, who stood firm as the others behind him began to back away slowly. SkullGreymon stomped towards him, lowering his head and releasing a deafening roar in the boy's face. Tai stood still weakly, the fear of seeing the demonic digimon hovering over him shaking the boy to his very core.

"Agumon, I'm sorry I did this to you-"

"RWAH!" SkullGreymon let out another blood curdling screech, but Tai stood his ground.

"Agumon I know this isn't your fault, my own insecurities are stopping you from digivolving properly."

"Tai, what are you doing?" Kari screamed to her brother in panic.

"Kari, calm yourself." Hakase placed his palm on the girl's shoulder.

"I keep transforming you into a monster, and you don't deserve that-"

"You die..." SkullGreymon let his jaw fall open, then curved his head to face his ivory teeth against the boy.

"I'm not going to let this happen to you anymore. I'll get you out of this even if it means sacrificing my own life to do it."

"Tai are you crazy?" Kari screamed, trying to run to her brother, but Rika and Hakase stopped her. "Let me go-"

"He knows what he's doing Kari, just wait." Hakase comforted the girl.

"You are a fool..." SkullGreymon hissed in the boy's ear. "You digivolved me knowing full well that I might become this, and yet now you are willing to sacrifice yourself?"

"I decided that I'd have to do this the last time you digivolved into SkullGreymon, so yeah I'm prepared."

"You don't even know if this world is real or not, and you're willing to sacrifice yourself just for some digital entity?" Kari and Agumon Hakase were surprised by SkullGreymon's sentience, which had not been exhibited the previous time he digivolved.

"I know that Agumon is real, and I also know that you will not hurt me."

"And why is that?"

"Because you don't control that body, whoever you are. Agumon does."

"We'll see about that, ayah!" SkullGreymon rose his head and snapped his jaws over Tai, who flinched his head but kept his body still.

"Tai!" Kari slipped from Hakase and Rika's grasp and started running towards her brother, who was now covered by SkullGreymon's jaw. She stopped however when SkullGreymon raised his head, revealing Tai standing there safely. SkullGreymon backed up and stared down at him.

"Why can't I attack you?" SkullGreymon stood stunned, unable to understand his incapacity.

"I told you, Agumon controls that body, not you."

"No- I will- agh!- ugh- ogh- SkullGreymon began to squirm.

"Cherry Blast!" Cherrymon sent his ravaging attack into Angewomon's gut, knocking her onto the ground, unable to battle.

"T-Tai?" SkullGreymon stared at Tai painfully, trying to make out the boy's shape.

"Agumon?" Tai looked up hopefully.

"Tai, I can control myself." SkullGreymon stood up slowly, regaining himself as Tai's crest began to glow a bright orange light.

"Are you okay now, to fight?"

"Yes, thank you Tai." SkullGreymon cracked his shoulders as he began to gain complete control of his body.

"Good, I'm glad our plan worked." Hakase sighed in relief.

"You knew about this?" Kari stared angrily at Hakase.

"It was Tai's decision, I just went along with it."

"You need me to de-digivolve you SkullGreymon?" Tai asked.

"No, I've got this." SkullGreymon turned around to see Rapidmon and Taomon wrestling with their two opponents. To the side, Paildramon and Zudomon had regained themselves as well, and were preparing to join their allies. **"Slide Evolution!"** SkullGreymon was covered in an orange light, his body morphing to a slightly different form. A few seconds later, the familiar orange skinned, metal plated, decayed wing monster that was MetalGreymon appeared.

"It's good to see you again big guy."

"Thanks Tai, now if you don't mind-"

"Show them who's boss MetalGreymon."

"Lightning Javelin!" MegaSeadramon jammed his lighting covered horn towards Taomon, who rolled away to avoid the main blow, taking the electric aftermath of the attack instead.

"Try this, Talisman of-" Taomon was interrupted.

"Desperado Blaster!" Energy beams pounded into Taomon, knocking her onto the ground. MegaSeadramon and Paildramon now hovered over her.

"Crud."

"Do you want the honors MegaSeadramon?" Paildramon smiled at his partner.

"Yes, thank you. Mega Ice Blast!" MegaSeadramon's attack barely started before he was knocked to the ground by a missile that hit him and Paildramon.

"What was that?" Paildramon lifted himself off of the ground and spun around to see the dramon behind them. "Who the hell are you?" He asked in his dual voice.

"Someone who's going to kick your ass- Mega Claw!" Paildramon snatched the rocketing claw that was coming towards him, letting it glide through the air with him as its rider. He leaped off and then prepared an attack.

"Desperado Blaster!"

"Talisman Star!" Taomon blasted at MegaSeadramon, who had tried to leap at MetalGreymon in attack.

"Thank you Taomon." MetalGreymon jumped into the air, raising his chest with a deep breath. "Giga Blaster!" He fired another attack at Paildramon.

"You're welcome- Talisman of Light!" She also attacked Paildramon, her original opponent knocked out from her last attack.

"Cable Catcher!" Paildramon wrapped his cabled claws around the two missiles, tossing them into the attack from Taomon.

"MetalGreymon, I can handle this guy. Go help Rapidmon." Taomon instructed.

"Right, good luck." He spun around and leaped towards Cherrymon, Zudomon, and Rapidmon.

"I don't think so, Desperado Blaster!" Taomon then leaped in front of the digimon.

"Talisman Spell!" Taomon slipped a red tag from her sleeve and slapped it onto her brush, holding it up into the air. Paildramon's weapon fire bounced harmlessly off an invisible field in front of her. "Don't be foolish Paildramon, my powers are more than enough to contend with you."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I can smell a fresh evolution anywhere. How many times have you digivolved to ultimate now, two or three?"

"I was a champion before you ever reached rookie, I don't think you should be comparing our experience." Paildramon wrapped his palms around the two blasters attached to his hips.

"And now I've ascended to ultimate much longer than you have." Taomon flipped her brush over her shoulder. "The tables have turned, deal with it! Talisman of Light!"

"Desperado Blaster!"

***

"Ayah!" Zudomon swung his heavy hammer down towards Rapidmon, who dodged, only to suffer a heavy Cherry Blast from Cherrymon.

"You're outnumbered Rapidmon, just give up." The tree growled as he and Zudomon cornered the wounded rabbit-dog.

"You sure about that?" Rapidmon chuckled.

"Wha-gyah!" Something pounced onto Cherrymon's back, knocking the digimon into the dirt.

"Nice timing MetalGreymon." Rapidmon said as he flew next to the dragon.

"Thank Taomon." He replied.

"That I will. So which one you want?"

"I'll take the crabby one." MetalGreymon smiled, staring down the cherry tree who had bounced to the back wall.

"What makes you think you can take me?" Cherrymon growled as Rapidmon sped past them to slam into Zudomon.

"It's simple- I've got more experience than you. Giga Blaster!"

"Cherry Blast!" The explosives collided in mid air, creating a fantastic explosion that echoed loudly in the cave.

"Tri-Beam!" Rapidmon dealt a heavy blast into Zudomon's chest, knocking the digimon into the wall and de-digivolving him to Gomamon. Rapidmon then turned around to see MetalGreymon and Cherrymon in a fist fight.

"Talisman Star!" Taomon's magical attack slammed into Paildramon's head, knocking him unconscious and degenerating him. She then joined with Rapidmon to aid MetalGreymon.

"Looks like you're outnumbered Cherrymon." MetalGreymon growled as the two joined his side.

"My digi-cores account for a lot more than you three fools. Cherry Blast!" The ultimate tossed a heavy load of bombs into the three digimon. They tried to block, but the attack was more powerful than normal, bashing the three digimon into the rocky surface below. The three digimon rolled over in exhaustion while Cherrymon hovered over them evilly.

"Oh no, he's too strong for them." Kari murmured as she pulled the unconscious Salamon out of harms way.

"Don't give up MetalGreymon!" Tai yelled to his partner as his crest began to glow.

"I believe in you Taomon!" Rika cheered to the now recovering ultimate fox as her crest began to glow as well.

"Stop him Rapidmon, there's no other choice!" Izzy cheered to Rapidmon, gaining strength from the glowing crest around Izzy's neck. The three digimon, having recovered thanks to the qualities of the tamers, stood up in the air again.

"Is that all you got?" Rapidmon mocked the enemy ultimate, who roared in fury.

"You dare mock me? You haven't seen anything yet! Illusion Mist!" Thick vines then burst from Cherrymon's head, speeding towards them.

"It's too fast!" Taomon muttered.

"Then we'll be faster!" MetalGreymon was overcome by the light from Tai's digivice, the same happening to Taomon and Rapidmon.

"Trinity Force!" The three digimon joined together in a bright light which incinerated the vines extending from Cherrymon. The light then shaped into a giant phoenix, hovering over Cherrymon as it glowed with power.

"Oh..." Cherrymon looked up in contempt as the shining combination dove down on him, consuming the plant within his powerful jaws.

"I didn't know they could do that." Kari stated in disbelief.

"Neither did we." Tai replied. "Did we?" He looked to Izzy and Rika, who both shook their heads.

"It must have been the power from all your crests working together." Hakase answered as the five watched the light disperse from the center of the cave. MetalGreymon, Taomon, and Rapidmon stood in a triangle, surrounding Mushroomon, Gomamon, and Wormmon, who were all unconscious.

"You're not getting away this time." MetalGreymon growled as he bent over to scoop the three digimon into his palm. Unfortunately they failed to remember MegaSeadramon, who had not de-digivolved.

"Mega Ice Blast!" An icy wind overcame MetalGreymon's wings, frosting them over and inhibiting the digimon's ability to fly. The sea snake then slipped in the circle before the three ultimates could figure out what happened and grabbed the three wounded rookies, slithering into a narrow cave on the other end of the cavern.

"I'll get him!" Rapidmon took off after the digimon, Taomon at his heels, while MetalGreymon stayed behind due to his current problem. Rapidmon and Taomon chased the digimon through the winding cavern, eventually coming to a large bubble in the rock where Seadramon had time to twist around.

"Mega Ice Blast!" MegaSeadramon launched his icy attack before Rapidmon could react, freezing the rabbit in a block of ice.

"Rapidmon!" Taomon latched onto the ice before it could fall to the ground, watching helplessly as MegaSeadramon escaped into the bowels of the tunnel. "Blast!" She turned around sorrowfully and returned to the main cave. Taomon made it to the cavern to see Agumon and Salamon recovering in a circle of four humans and three digimon. She landed, then placed a tag onto the chunk of ice that was Rapidmon before degenerating.

"So he got away huh?" Rika asked her partner sympathetically, who nodded as Terriermon emerged from the melted ice block. "It's okay. The evil tamers vanished too."

"At least we're all back together again," Izzy commented, "Or at least..." He looked around the cavern, "We should be. Where are Eric and T.K.?"

"We were separated." Tai replied in remorse.

"Again? How hard is it to keep track of two people Tai?" Tai glared at him in response.

"A huge mountain popped out of the ground Izzy, it wasn't that difficult for us to get separated."

"So why were you in this cave when the evil tamers attacked?" Rika questioned.

"We were getting some rest so we could go looking for T.K. and Eric later." Said Kari.

"So what should we do now?" Tai asked after yawning.

"You're still the leader Tai, you decide." Rika smiled.

"I thought you were angry at me?"

"I got over it. There's no reason to hold a grudge."

"Can I make a suggestion?" Hakase intervened.

"As long as you tell us who you are first." Izzy replied instead.

"We met him on our way to the evil tamers' base. The village he's from was planning an assault on them, but they struck first." Tai explained.

"One of the digimon from the village was a champion named Ex-Veemon. Stingmon absorbed him and used his data and digi-core to evolve to Paildramon." Salamon added. "So he's coming with us to separate their digi-cores."

"Back to me please," Hakase snapped, "We should really get some rest. We hadn't gotten much before, and I doubt we'll be in any shape to look for our friends now, especially after that long battle."

"I agree with that." Agumon interjected from his resting place upon a smooth rock. "It takes a lot of energy out of me to evolve to SkullGreymon and then again to MetalGreymon, I need rest."

"If Agumon needs rest then that's what we'll do." Tai determined.

"You're a wise and powerful leader Tai." Agumon mocked, prompting a laugh from Izzy, Rika, Kari, and the digimon.

"So tomorrow we can go look for Eric and T.K., and then make our way over to the evil tamers' base." Rika spoke.

"It should be fairly easy since the four of us can evolve to ultimate." Renamon stated as she and Terriermon took comfortable places near Agumon.

"Tentomon can too, so once we find them the only one who won't be able to digivolve to ultimate will be Patamon." Tai corrected them.

"So Eric activated his crest huh?" Rika laughed. "What was his best quality: making stupid jokes?"

"It was wisdom Rika."

"Oh."

"Wisdom?" Izzy asked, sounding offended. "I thought mine was the crest of wisdom."

"Yours is the crest of knowledge Izzy." Tai answered his question.

"So what's mine?" Rika asked, a serious look on her face. "What's my best quality that you couldn't help but laugh at?" A hint of a smile from the girl calmed Tai, although not very much.

"Um, I'd rather not tell you."

"And why is that?"

"Because you will hit me."

"I'm not going to hit you!"

"Rika you hit everybody."

"Just tell me Tai!" She yelled, her face red with anger.

"Tell me." Izzy came up to the boy, allowing the goggle head to whisper the crest power into the genius' ear. "No wonder you laughed."

"So what is it?" Rika was now just annoyed about being caught out of the loop.

"I don't want to tell you either." Izzy smiled.

"What? Why?"

"I think you might hit me too, in place of Tai."

"You people are paranoid, just tell me!"

"Please no."

"Tell me!"

"It's love Rika," Kari answered for the two boys, who quickly jumped out of the elder girl's line of sight, "Your's is the crest of love."

"Huh? Why would you laugh at that Tai?" Rika growled at him.

"It just didn't seem like you Rika, sorry." He chuckled weakly.

"You're right though."

"What do you mean."

"I am going to hit you."

"Wait, Rika, please!" Tai staggered backwards, much to the amusement of Izzy and Kari.

"Get over here you little brat!"


	27. What it Takes

**Chapter Twenty Seven: What it Takes**

**Odaiba Apartment Complex- Tokyo, Japan**

Yuuko yawned deeply, sitting comfortably on the couch watching her television program. It was a pleasant May Sunday, her husband Susumu had offered to do all of the housework in her place so the woman could relax. She usually had him do some of the work anyway, but today was special. At commercial, she glanced over to the clock on the coffee table. 2:30.

"Susumu!" She called to her husband, who was washing the dishes.

"Yes dear?"

"How long ago did the kids leave for the park?"

"A few hours ago, why?"

"That's an awfully long time for them to be gone, doesn't that bother you? Besides, Tai needs his rest if he wants to compete in the preliminaries tomorrow."

"I'm sure they just wanted to give you some peace and quiet today, that's all." A knock on the door interrupted their conversation before she could give her rebuttal.

"I've got it." She stood up from the couch and peered through the peephole in the door. The only thing she could make out from the figure outside was a few packs of spiky hair near the bottom of her viewpoint. She unlocked the door to see an eight year old boy standing there.

"Hi Mrs. Kamiya." He smiled.

"Hey Takato." She looked down at the Matsuki boy.

"Is Kari here?"

"No, she's at the park with her brother."

"On Mother's Day?"

"Yeah, well, what are you going to do?" She asked rhetorically, rolling her eyes.

"Do you think they'd mind if I went down there to ask her something?"

"I don't see why not, but when you're down there, could you tell them that they've been gone for a while and should come home soon."

"Sure Mrs. Kamiya, I'll tell them. Well, bye." He turned to leave.

"By Takato." She closed the door, returning to the couch.

"Who was that?" Susumu asked as he turned off the faucet that was impairing his hearing.

"Takato Matsuki, he wanted to know where Kari was."

"Ah."

"Hey Susumu, you think after you're done you could go down to the Akabeko and pick us all up something to eat?"

**The Digital World, Server Continent**

We're separated again, on another mountain no less. How much more are we going to have to take? I just want to save all the others and then go home, not have to deal with a digital war. Why did I have to come here?

"T.K.!" Eric shook the boy out of his trance. The young tamer looked around to remember where he was, quickly examining the small indention in the mountain they had chosen to rest for the evening. As the sun had rose in the morning, Eric went out over the mountain to try to find some firewood, and when he came back (with no success) the digimon were still asleep and T.K. was staring off into space.

"What?" He asked apathetically.

"You're kind of... silent. Just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine. Did you find any firewood?"

"No. Looks like this mountain is the only thing to come with the deal. I did find this though." Eric slipped a thin stack of papers strapped together at the binding. "Digi-book."

"What is it?" Eric handed the primitive reading to T.K. "Bagagava... bavagada... What?"

"The Bhagavad Gita. It's a Hindu epic."

"No Harry Potter?"

"Afraid not."

"So what is this about?" He waved the papers around.

"It's about a warrior who's too afraid to fight because the war is against his relatives, so his mentor teaches him the right thing to do."

"Oh, sounds fun." He dropped the book on the ground next to Eric. "Where do you think it came from?"

"Well if the digimon can come up with that high tech prison technology, then I'm sure they could write a book someone else wrote a couple thousand years ago. Some digimon probably dropped it on their way through the desert."

"You're a real jerk, you know that?"

"How do you figure?" Eric asked, insulted.

"All you do is make jokes, no matter what our situation is. You just keep mocking everything and everyone."

"That's not true T.K., at least not anymore. I get serious when it matters, and forgive me if I don't want to drop into some depressed slump like you frequently do. I'd rather keep my spirits up so that if we do get into trouble I have the will to get through it."

"That's another thing, you always act like you're better than everyone else, but you aren't."

"I don't T.K., I just think I'm better than the kid who's in such an emotional coma that his crest is virtually useless."

"At least I don't get people killed!" T.K. stormed out of the nook, leaving T.K. to think of what the young boy had said.

"Crud." He grabbed the copy of the literature and stuffed it into his back pocket, then took off after the boy. "T.K.!" He called as he walked up the path. "T.K., I'm sorry, come-" Motimon suddenly flew into him.

"Look out!" He knocked the boy down, forcing him to slide down the slope of the mountain. A shatter of rock answered Eric's question before he could ask.

"Who's attacking?" Omekamon yelled as he and Patamon emerged from the pit.

"We're not sure, go find T.K., he's alone out on the mountain!" Eric replied as he and Tentomon clambered back up the hill.

"I'll stay here, deal with whoever is out here." Omekamon stated as Patamon flew away around the mountain.

"I can probably digivolve if I need to Omekamon." Motimon muttered from Eric's shoulder.

"Better not take the chance. Save your strength for when we really need it."

"Aw, what a team, doing all that planning, even if it is all for nothing." A voice laughed from higher up the mountain. On a medium sized platform ejecting from the slanted mound above, Matt and a clothed, werewolf version of Garurumon stood overlooking them.

"More evil tamers?" Omekamon asked the boy behind him.

"You've got it, but I don't recognize his partner. It looks like a beefed up version of Garurumon." Eric replied.

"It's a WereGarurumon." Omekamon shuttered.

"Is he an ultimate?"

"How did you ever guess?" Matt laughed from above. "Now tell me what you are doing here on Server? I though Devimon was supposed to have destroyed you by now?"

"You didn't think we'd give up that easily, did you?" Eric smiled.

"Tell me now. Kazu said two of your friends have already found their crests, and I want to know how!"

"Who are you, Dr. Seuss? Get 'em Motimon!" The in-training jumped from the boy's arms.

**"Motimon, warp digivolve to-"** Omekamon jumped in front of the evolving monster.

"I've got this one, reserve your strength!" Omekamon leaped up towards the wolf.

"But he's an ultimate!" Motimon protested.

"I don't care!" Omekamon responded, pulling the graffiti missile from his back. The two digimon then locked in battle.

"It isn't safe for him to fight WereGarurumon alone."

"It would only be my second time digivolving to ultimate, I'm not sure I would be too effective against him ether." Tentomon responded.

"If you two at least worked together, you might stand a better cha-" The ground below them burst apart, dragging them down the loose slope. "Agh!" Tentomon tried grab onto Eric and fly upwards, but a large boulder slammed into his back, temporarily paralyzing the digimon's wings. The two then fell helplessly down the mountain.

***

"T.K.!" Patamon flew to the green dressed boy, who was running back towards the commotion.

"Patamon, what's happening?" He asked in worry.

"Someone attacked us, I came to find you while Omekamon and Motimon fend him off."

"Let's hurry!" T.K. grabbed the angel-bird's paw and started running down the path where Patamon came from. They arrived at the battle scene not a minute later. Ahead, WereGarurumon was wiping the paint out of his eyes while Omekamon recovered on a part of the path close to the partners. Eric and Motimon were nowhere in sight.

"Omekamon, where are the others?" Patamon questioned as the tired champion turned around to see them.

"What do you mean?" Omekamon twisted around to try to discover the source of their question, his eyes quickly absorbing the information he needed to answer them. "Well that's not good."

"Who are we fighting?" T.K. questioned.

"Him." Omekamon nodded up at the boy on the ledge. T.K. gasped.

"No..."

"What's wrong?" Omekamon asked.

"That's Matt," Patamon responded, "T.K.'s brother."

"Oh, hence the gasp."

"Well if it isn't little Takeru coming to help his friends." Matt laughed from his vantage point. "You are braver than those other two, running down the mountain with no regard for the three of you."

"They didn't run away, you did something to them didn't you?" Omekamon accused.

"You wish." Matt smiled. A howl from beyond attracted the three's attention, as they saw WereGarurumon wiping the rest of the sticky paint off of his face.

"Patamon, do you think you might be able to deal with the needle in my brother?" T.K. asked hopefully.

"It didn't work on Joe, but I might be more effective against him, since he's your family." Patamon replied in the same tone.

"You do that, I'll keep handling WereGarurumon." Omekamon stated before running down the path. "Graffiti Missile!"

"Go ahead Patamon." T.K. tapped his digivice.

**"Patamon digivolve to... Angemon!"** The angel rose up into the air, staring down Matt. "Let's try this again, shall we?"

"WereGarurumon!" Matt called as he jumped away from the champion, who dove down on him. The werewolf leaped away from Omekamon, realizing that the tin man was just a distraction, and slammed his fist into Angemon's gut, knocking the digimon into the rock.

"Don't worry Angemon, I've got him. Graffiti Missi-"

"Half Moon Kick!" WereGarurumon spun around and dealt a heavy blow to the digimon's chest. Behind him, Angemon had formed a light "Angel's Fist" in his arm, then tried to fire it at Matt. "No!" WereGarurumon dove in front of the beam, taking the light hit. He then leaped off of the ground and pounded his foot into the angel's head, crushing the digimon's metal helmet. Angemon fell to the ground, exhausted.

"T.K..., I need help..." Angemon grunted as WereGarurumon began to beat Omekamon ferociously.

"I'm coming Angemon!" He ran to the digimon, but was stopped when Matt jumped in front of him.

"You're not doing anything little brother." Matt growled, walking slowly towards him. "Tell me what happened on File Island, and why Devimon didn't destroy you or your pathetic friends?"

"Because Tai and MetalGreymon destroyed him first!" T.K. exclaimed.

"You lie!"

"I don't!"

"Tell me the truth right now!" Matt shot his hand around the boy's neck, squeezing tightly.

"Matt... please..." T.K. cried as Matt glared at him.

"You'll tell me what I want to know." Matt started to walk towards the mountain slope, dragging the boy with him. Matt hung the boy over the edge, who struggled for a few seconds before finally giving up.

"Takeru, you cannot give up hope. You must fight to save yourself and your brother..." Angemon muttered as he lay defeated. T.K. kept crying, looking up as Matt stared down at him evilly.

"Tell me what I want to know brother." He commanded.

"I already told you..." T.K. gasped.

"Devimon cannot be defeated by the likes of you."

"Tai... used his crest... to digivolve Greymon... to ultimate..."

"If that's true, then I have no more use for you." Matt threw his hand outward, releasing the boy from his grasp. T.K. flew through the air, looking up as Matt turned around to return to the battle at hand.

"Matt..." T.K. reached his hand out to the boy as tears streamed through the air. "I won't give up. Somehow, I'll save the both of us." T.K.'s crest then burned a bright blueish light that rocketed into the air and slammed through Matt before streaming into Angemon. Matt fell over, grasping his arm for some odd reason as a sharp pain had stung him instead of his chest where it should have hurt.

***

"Ow..." Eric rubbed the massive bruise on his head, looking around the dark cavern he found himself in. "Where the hell am I?"

"We're in some sort of cave, we must have landed in it when we fell down the mountain." Tentomon sighed from the darkness. "Super Shocker." A stream of electricity raced in between Tentomon's antenna, providing light for the two.

"Damn, I feel like I just fell down the rabbit hole. I'm surprised we're still alive."

"Oh, you're quoting Alice in Wonderland, that's great."

"Alice in Wonderland is a complex study of the human psyche, of course I'm gonna quote it."

"You're not a normal teenage boy, are you?"

"Nope. My mother's in love with science and my dad's a history buff. Do the math. Damn my ass hurts."

"You sure curse a lot for a human child as well. I've heard normal children don't do that, only human adults."

"If you met my aunts you would understand." Eric stood up weakly. "We should find a way out of here."

"I'm guessing we can't go back the way we came." Tentomon looked up to the pile of rocks above them. "Only way to go is forward." He then looked down the long, dark cave that lay ahead of them.

"With our luck we'll run into a magic talking door that will lead us to a world where everybody wants to kill us. Actually, come to think of it, that already happened to me once."

"You're very funny, let's just get moving." Tentomon started flying slowly down the tunnel, so Eric could catch up.

"How do you know what Alice in Wonderland is anyway?"

"We have movies you know. We're not primitive."

"Yet television is non existent to you?"

"You're forgetting those car things you talked about before."

"Well I understand about the cars. I doubt you'd fit in one at your champion or ultimate stage."

"I think I might smell something."

"Great."

"It's getting closer."

"Sounds like I was right about someone wanting to kill us."

"Maybe not, it might just be a cave dweller."

"With our luck it's got to be an evil tamer."

"Let's not jinx ourselves, keep quiet until we see who's there."

"Maybe we should just ask. Hello! Who's there?"

"Eric!"

"It's too late now, besides, they're coming closer to us anyway, it wouldn't matter. We might as well try to befriend whoever is out there so they don't decided to kill us." A strike against the wall interrupted the two partners' rhetoric. A small flame then appeared in the darkness, then began to hover away, back down the cavern.

"What should we do? I don't like following it, there might be a trap."

"But if we don't we could be trapped down here. Can you digivolve to Kabuterimon if you need to?"

"Uh-huh."

"Then it's a risk we should take. Let's go." Eric started slowly following the light, so that it didn't get too far away from him and disappear in the darkness and that he didn't get too close to it. Tentomon followed warily.

***

**"Angemon digivolve to... MagnaAngemon!"** Angemon's ultimate form kept the digimon's shape, also giving him a few new pairs of wings, and gave the angel new armor, including a bishop-style pointed helmet and a gauntlet on his arm. The ultimate quickly sprang into action, leaping away from the earth path that he was on and catching T.K. before he could tumble onto the ground below.

"Nice catch Angemon!" T.K. smiled as the new evolution rose into the air with the boy in his arms.

"Do you still think MetalGreymon is cooler than me?"

"Not at all."

"Thanks Takeru, now let me get to work." MagnaAngemon placed the boy on a ledge above WereGarurumon, who was about to finish off Omekamon. "Stop right now!" He commanded to the wolf, who looked up in irritation.

"Aw..." He squinted as the angel dove down on him.

"Excalibur!" A sword emerged from the digimon's gauntlet, and he pulled it down on the wolf. WereGarurumon blocked with his brass knuckles, then swung his other arm at his enemy's jaw. MagnaAngemon knocked the fist away, kicking WereGarurumon in the chest and knocking him back into the ground. "Hand of Fate!" The digimon's old attack decimated the earth around WereGarurumon, who leaped away just in time to avoid the attack. He then turned to continue the battle.

"WereGarurumon!" Matt called as he grasped his arm in pain.

"Matt!" WereGarurumon swung a fistful of dust into MagnaAngemon's face, who wiped it away with his hand. Upon removing the dust, he could see WereGarurumon grabbing his partner and dashing away from the scene.

"No!" MagnaAngemon gave chase, but his new strength could not match WereGarurumon's speed, who quickly escaped within the rocks. "Coward." He turned around and returned to T.K., who was at Omekamon's side, trying to wake him up.

"Omekamon, Omekamon please get up!" He shook the digimon, who did not respond.

"I've got this Takeru, back away." MagnaAngemon landed next to the champion, extending his arms. T.K. watched from a distance as "Magna Antidote." A green mist poured out of MagnaAngemon's palms and washed over Omekamon, healing the digimon. Omekamon stood up, looking up at the new evolution.

"Thank Yggdrasil for crests, eh?" He laughed as MagnaAngemon helped the digimon off of his back.

"Speaking of which, did Tai ever tell you what mine is?" T.K. muttered.

"Hope boy, it's hope."

"How fitting is that?" MagnaAngemon smiled.

"So Matt escaped again." T.K. dropped his head.

"Yes, we should go after him."

"I know, but first we should probably try to find our friends. Greater strength in numbers, you know?"

"Right. We should start with Eric, since we have a better idea where he might have gone." Omekamon looked down the mountain, standing at the edge where Eric and Tentomon once stood. T.K. joined him, looking down on the ground to see some battered papers caught on a rock.

"You don't really think he ran away, do you?" MagnaAngemon inquired.

"Huh." T.K. bent down and picked up the copy of the Bhagavad Gita, skimming the pages. "I doubt it, we should get going." He opened his backpack and placed the book within.

"T.K.!" A scream from the upper path caught the three's attentions. Four humans and their rookie companions, as well as a scholarly digimon, were running towards them.

"Tai, Kari, Rika, Izzy!" T.K. ran over to them, joining them in a hug. "When did you guys get back?" He looked up at the tamers of love and knowledge.

"Last night," Izzy replied, "We started looking for you this morning. Where's Eric?"

"Something happened to him while we were fighting Matt." T.K. said sorrowfully.

"Matt?" Tai looked at the battlefield, then his eyes met MagnaAngemon. "Angemon get a new wardrobe?"

"I'm MagnaAngemon now." The archangel replied.

"That's great." Said Rika. "Now all of the digimon can evolve to ultimate."

"We still need to find Eric," T.K. pointed down the slope. "We think he fell down there."

"Then let's get going." Tai walked up to the edge. "We'll need transportation."

"I can take care of that." Renamon stepped forward. **"Taomon!"** The ultimate formed a sphere around the five destined and their digimon friends, and then began their trip down the mountain.

***

"They're slowing down." Tentomon observed as the light reached a standstill. The flame passed over something hidden in the darkness, and then another light emerged. They had just lit a torch. The light then began to fly around the room, activating other torches until the two destined could see that they were in a large cavern. The source of the light had disappeared.

"Well, whoever is here, they are certainly theatrical." Eric commented.

"Listen!" Tentomon boomed surprisingly. "We didn't come here to fight! We were just trapped in your cave, and if you help us find our way out we'll gladly leave you alone."

"That's certainly presumptuous of you Tentomon."

"I know the digital world Eric, believe me: I'm not." A dark shadow then leaped into the center of the cavern, surprising the two.

"Let's hope he's friendly." Eric sighed. The humanoid figure, covered in a dark cloak, then stood up, throwing the curtain off of him. A pale human, dressed in eighteenth century clothing, stared at them with a fanged smile.

"Doesn't look it."

"You didn't fall here by accident, you fools." The creature growled. "I brought you here."

"Guess that rules out the friendly theory. Who are you?" Eric glared at the vampire.

"What, you don't recognize me?" He laughed.

"What do you mean? Are we supposed to know you?"

"Maybe you would recognize me if I were at my previous form." A dark glow overcame the vampire, his form changing to a winged black demon.

"Oh god... Devimon." Eric and Tentomon stared in disbelief as the old enemy let out an evil laugh.

"Yes, that's right. I'm back." He re-evolved to his ultimate form, Myotismon. "Life's certainly a bitch, ain't it?"

"Not only that, but it's always having puppies. Tentomon get ready!" Eric commanded, his partner jumping forward.

"Why do you presume I want to fight? Maybe I just want to talk."

"Do you?"

"No, but it was rude of you to jump to conclusions. You seem like the presumptuous one to me."

"I'm not naive Myotismon, I wasn't."

"If you're going to act like that then I see no need to continue our conversation. Grizzly Wing!"

"Tentomon go!"

**"Tentomon, warp digivolve to... MegaKabuterimon!"** The beetle flew into the air to avoid the dark mist that tried to overtake him, while Eric rolled to the side.

"Horn Buster!" MegaKabuterimon rebelled, sending a stream of electricity at the ultimate, who leaped into the air to avoid it. Using his surprising and powerful speed and strength, the digimon then slammed into MegaKabuterimon's chest, stunning the monster and knocking him unconscious on the ground.

"MegaKabuterimon!" Eric tried to run over to the digimon, but he was stopped when a cold hand wrapped around his collar.

"I don't think so." Eric was yanked backwards and thrown into the ground. Eric leaped up to see who had done it, but was met with a fist in the face by a familiar face, Henry.

"Consider it payback." He laughed.

"Great job, Henry, now grab the Tentomon." Myotismon landed on the ground, pointing a thumb at the degenerated insect. "We have work to do."


	28. Dance of the Puppets

**Chapter Twenty Eight: Dance of the Puppets**

"You mind getting me some ice?" Eric asked defiantly, sitting on the rock he had been chained to by Henry, who had gone off to do something by the orders of Myotismon.

"What the hell for?" Myotismon growled as he sorted through a series of papers he had collected on a previous occasion.

"Henry punched me in the nose, it kind of hurts."

"What do you think this is, a vacation!" Myotismon threw himself into Eric's face. "You are my prisoner, deal with it!" He walked away, returning to his files.

"Isn't it kind of a demotion for you to be a vampire?" Eric asked sarcastically. "I mean, you used to be a horrendous demonic soldier, and now you're a demon soul stuck in a human's body? Shouldn't you have digivolved into something more sinister like Beelzebubmon or Asmodeusmon or-"

"Would you shut up!" Myotismon grabbed the boy's chest and pinned him against the wall, glaring at him angrily.

"You sure you should be holding me there?" Eric gave the digimon a smile, who responded with a confused look before realizing the pain that was in his palm. He jerked backwards, dropping the boy and clutching his wrist, staring at the cross shaped burn mark on his hand. "Wow, that's so cool. I never thought that would work." Eric laughed, standing up. Myotismon stared at him with fire in his eyes, then ran over to the boy and grabbed his arm, pinning him against the wall again.

"I may not be able to choke you, but I can still hurt you." Myotismon now gave a smile as Eric stared back with anger and fear.

"Master Myotismon," Henry appeared in the cavern, distracting Myotismon and sparing Eric.

"What is it Henry?" He asked, walking away from the defiant teen, who was massaging the spot on his arm where Myotismon's cold hand had gripped him tightly.

"I checked on the status of the other destined."

"Already?"

"Yes, all of them are here on the mountain, except for Koichi, who Okuwamon says is back at their base."

"That's very good, just have Okuwamon lead Koichi here and we can begin."

"Yes sir, I'll go tell him immediately." Henry left the stone chamber, lit by torch light, to go address Myotismon's orders to his ultimate partner, Okuwamon.

"What are you planning?" Eric growled, his sarcastic battle with the demon over.

"And I'd tell you because...?"

"You're going to kill me anyway, I might as well be told the reason I'm going to die."

"Who says I'm going to kill you?"

"I don't feel like playing your games Myotismon."

"But I played yours," Myotismon grasped Eric's chin with his embalmed palm, "So why don't we head over to my court for a while." He tossed the boy away, gliding to the middle of the room.

"So you're not going to kill me. Does that mean that you're going to try to use me in your plans to take over the digital world?"

"I couldn't if I wanted to, at least not right now anyway." He turned to Eric. "I'd need to reach the mega level before I could attempt to take you over."

"What? I thought your dark needles stopped working when our partners evolved to champion?"

"That was when I was a champion. My powers only work on digidestined who's partners are at a lower level than I."

"So, you're going to evolve to mega, then poison me and my friends over and take over the digi-world."

"Where did you get this silly notion that I want to take over this world?" Myotismon laughed darkly, disturbing the other side of the conversation.

"You freak, so what are you going to do: destroy it?"

"You simple minded fool!" Myotismon slammed his hands into the wall on either side of the boy, his eyes staring right into Eric's, as if piercing the boy's soul. "I care not for this ridiculous world, and to answer your next question, I don't care about the human world either! My goals are too grand for you to comprehend! And my reasons? They are purely my own." Myotismon separated from the wall, backing away once again the the middle of the small cavern.

"So what do you want?" Eric stared with fire.

"You wouldn't understand if I told you."

"Try me."

"Very well. What _I _want? It's revenge."

"Against who?"

"Now that's something I can't tell you now, but I'd be happy to tell you who, when it is too late to do anything about it." Myotismon chuckled.

"Who could you possibly want revenge from? Your dark beacon degenerated all the digimon in this world to digi-eggs."

"And once again you jump to conclusions."

"What conclusion?"

"You assume that the dark beacon was my creation. Well I can assure you that it is most certainly not."

"If it's not yours..."

"That's right Carter. There are forces in this world much more powerful than me, and they are helping me get what I want as long as I help them get what they want."

"So Babamon was right, you do have a boss."

"Babamon? Oh, that old witch, I'm surprised she's not dead yet. She is right however, I do have superiors, and even if I fail they will crush you one way or another. But enough about me, what are you doing here? What possible reason could that fool Leopardmon have for bringing a weakling like you to try and stop me?"

"Leopardmon?" A quizzical look overcame Eric's face, prompting a smile and a contained laugh from Myotismon.

"Oh, this is just too precious. He hasn't tried to help you at all? Ha ha ha!"

"Who is Leopardmon?"

"Oh, just let me savor this moment for a minute, ha ha."

"Who is he?"

"He's the one who brought you here, fool. He's the one who brought the first digidestined, my digidestined, here. He's the only one who has tried to stand up to me these past two years, but he's failed every time because the dark beacon took away his power!"

"He... what? He called me and my friends here? Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? Because he could not stop me himself. It's ironic really."

"Why is it ironic?"

"Oh, that's right, you don't really know anything, do you?"

"Why don't you get off your high horse and just tell me!" Eric pulled towards the digimon, the chain around his wrist stopping him from foolishly launching himself at the monster.

"He's a Royal Knight! Somehow he survived the dark beacon at the cost of all of his power! He guided the first digidestined when they came here, but I stole them all, so he must have called you all here, and left you to fend for yourselves!" Myotismon was laughing uncontrollably.

"He is a Royal Knight? But Babamon said they had all been wiped out by the dark beacon."

"He's the weakest of the Royal Knights, so he was able to survive, just barely."

"Why wouldn't he help us. Everything we went through, if he..."

"Oh, this is so precious, I wish I had friends to make fun of you with. Ha!"

"We've been through so much hell, and a Royal Knight has been here the whole time, doing nothing."

"Sir, Okuwamon is on his way to get Koichi." Henry emerged in the room to see Myotismon suppressing laughter. "Sir?"

"Henry, talk with this boy while I go tend to some things." He began to leave the cavern, chuckling. "I promise you won't be disappointed!" Henry watched the digimon walk away, then turned to Eric.

"I've never seen Myotismon laugh before. I mean I have, but usually it was a maniacle one that he did because he was about to win at something, never because he thought something was funny."

"I don't suppose you would tell me what he is planning?"

"And let you catch me in a sleeper hold so you can escape and go tell your friends?" Henry leaned against the wall opposite Eric, safe from any attack. "I think not."

"So Henry, as long as we're stuck here together, why don't you tell me what it's like to be an evil monster."

"Oh, how sad. The whiny American is calling people names because he has no control over the situation. Typical."

"Don't you even care that what you're doing is wrong? You're hurting innocent creatures who have never done anything to you."

"Don't be naïve. Myotismon freed me from those petty emotions. I have ascended."

"Well you know what they say: what goes up must come down."

"That is a long time from now, when you will be long gone."

"Don't you miss your parents?"

"What?"

"Your parents, you know: those two humans who raised you from a baby, and are probably worried sick that you are gone. Miss them at all?"

"Their part in my life is over, don't try to stir some petty emotion in me in a futile attempt to escape."

"So why do you serve Myotismon?"

"Huh?"

"If you don't have any 'petty' human attachments, then why do you serve him? That's a big attachment right there."

"Myotismon's part in my life will come to an end too, once I've surpassed his power."

"I think Myotismon has different plans."

"I'll gain enough power to overthrow him soon enough."

"Myotismon is pure evil, you're just his pawn. What could possibly make you think you'd stand a chance against him?"

"I know what I'm doing."

"He's just using you to power himself up to mega, don't you get it?"

"I said I know what I'm doing!" Henry yelled.

"Look at that, petty human emotion." Eric smirked.

"Don't smile, I'm entitled to lash out at fools like you when you are being incredibly stupid."

"You've really convinced yourself of how great you are, haven't you?"

"I don't have to convince myself of what is true."

"Damn you're a moron. Yolei is stronger than you, and her partner is a tree!"

"Who are you to talk? How many times have you defeated her?"

"I haven't, but I'm not calling myself a super human either."

"Henry, I told you to taunt him, not get in an argument!" Myotismon laughed as he returned to the room.

"Sorry sir, he just got to me." Henry ducked his head.

"Dear Yggdrasil, you can't even taunt like a villain. It's pathetic really."

***

"We out number them, we should just go in for the attack." A voice stated from behind a rock.

"But one of them is missing, they might be leading us into a trap." Someone else proposed.

"They're going to find the boy, he's not waiting to attack us, you idiot."

"Let's just get down there and crush them!" Another voice whispered loudly.

"Yeah, that's a great idea- taunt the people who did this to my arm." Another voice patted the wound in his triceps.

"If we just stand up here and wait then we'll lose our chance for good, they are almost out of sight." A calculating person stated coldly. They all stared down as the hovering defense shield made its way down the mountain.

"So let's stop waiting and attack!" The enthusiastic one cheered again.

"It's just not a good idea to jump into battle, especially when we don't have the same advantage over them that we used to." The wary one reasoned.

"Listen newbie!" The leader poked her finger into the boy's chest, glaring at him. "We used to have the advantage over them, you just reaped our rewards!"

"They're getting away." A previously silent boy stated coldly. They all turned their gazes to the sphere, which was almost out of sight.

"So what do you want to do?" The calculator asked the leader. "You're the boss."

"Let's go down there, they won't be able to stop us." She replied.

"Yes!" Cheered the enthusiast.

"This won't be a good idea." The wary sighed.

***

"You'd think if they fell that they would have stopped themselves before going this far down the mountain." Tai stated as he sat uncomfortably in the bubble that Taomon had created around them.

"Eric and Motimon might have been knocked out when they fell, we can't be sure how far down the mountain they might be." Izzy replied.

"You don't think they got hurt, do you?" Kari whined.

"I doubt it," Rika stared out of the sphere, looking out over the massive field of debris, "I guy with a head as hard as Eric's wouldn't let a bunch of rocks stop him."

"I just hope one of the evil tamers didn't get him." Izzy repaired the serious nature of the conversation.

"Matt said that those two just disappeared," T.K. muttered as he flipped the pages of the battered paperback in his hands. "He didn't say anything about the other evil tamer capturing them."

"No offense T.K. but I don't think Matt's the most reliable source right now, what with the dark needle within him." Said Tai. "What are you reading?"

"Name's too hard to pronounce."

"Can I see?"

"Here." Takeru handed his fellow destined the book Eric had found.

"Oh, I see. You're right."

"Eric said it was a Hindu epic."

"Ah. What's it about?"

"Eric told me, but I forgot. I've been trying to read it, but it doesn't make a lot of sense."

"Excuse me, but instead of talking about some trinket you found on the side of the road, perhaps you would like to help me look for Motimon and Eric?" Taomon growled from the center of the bubble.

"Yeah Tai, we're all watching and you five are just having a conversation." Agumon agreed.

"I was watching." Tai protested.

"Yeah, sure you were." Rika smiled as she continued to stare out the massive bubble.

"I was!"

"You can't read and watch at the same time Tai..." Kari giggled, scanning the land outside of the bubble.

"You were right there talking with us Kari!"

"Well that looks pretty suspicious." Terriermon stared out of the front of the bubble. Everyone else reached their heads around Taomon's torso to see what Terriermon was talking about. A small hole, filled with rock and boulder, was embedded in the mountain ahead of them.

"We should stop here Taomon, and investigate." Rika suggested. The digimon gladly landed, disarming the energy shield she had used to transport them down the mountain. The group then gathered around the hole, discussing what to make of the situation while Taomon degenerated.

"So what should we do: dig our way down there?" Rika asked.

"We don't know how deep it goes or if Eric and Motimon are even down there." Replied Tai.

"You won't be going anywhere!" Someone yelled from behind. The five children and seven digimon turned around, and then groaned at the sight of six evil digidestined and their partners gathered together.

"Aren't you guys tired of following us around?" Tai said tiredly.

"What? They aren't... afraid?" Yolei staggered backwards, surprised by the almost apathetic attitude of the good tamers.

"Why should they? They beat us every time we fight them." Ken groaned.

"That's because we've never attacked together before, go!"

"This seems oddly familiar." Izzy groaned.

**"Mushroomon, warp digivolve to... Cherrymon!"**

**"Betamon, warp digivolve to... MegaSeadramon!"**

**"Hagurumon, warp digivolve to... Andromon!"**

**"Gomamon, warp digivolve to... Zudomon!"**

**"Gabumon, warp digivolve to... WereGarurumon!"**

**"Wormmon, warp digivolve to... Paildramon!"**

**"Salamon, warp digivolve to... Angewomon!"**

**"Terriermon, warp digivolve to... Rapidmon!"**

**"Renamon, warp digivolve to... Taomon!"**

**"Tokomon, warp digivolve to... MagnaAngemon!"**

**"Agumon, warp digivolve to... MetalGreymon!"**

Before, where the mountain was once silent, eleven ultimate level digimon now stood against each other, ready to battle fiercely.

"So how should we do this?" Rapidmon asked seriously.

"I should take Cherrymon, he's the strongest." MetalGreymon said.

"Andromon is very powerful as well, I think it would be wise for Angewomon to handle him." Taomon suggested.

"Then that leaves me and Taomon with the watery intermediates." Rapidmon joked, staring across the rocky slope at Zudomon, MegaSeadramon, and WereGarurumon.

"Saving Paildramon for me." Said MagnaAngemon.

"Cherrymon, stop sitting there and attack now!" Yolei yelled as the six evil tamers fled the scene.

"How about I attack first: Mega Claw!" MetalGreymon rushed towards Cherrymon, slamming into the tree's trunk and throwing the both of them away from the rest of the digimon. In the meantime, Angewomon gave a spinning kick into Andromon's jaw, tossing him away as well. He retaliated with a Lightning Blade. MagnaAngemon took his blade against Paildramon's, while Zudomon, Taomon, MegaSeadramon, Rapidmon, and WereGarurumon all clashed in the center of the battlefield. Tai and the rest of the hero digidestined escaped behind a large boulder.

"So it's just a digimon free-for-all, huh?" Tai said acceptingly.

"Unfortunately." Rika replied.

"Our digimon should be strong enough to face them, what with all the training they've received over the past month." Kari said optimistically.

"Let's hope so." Agreed T.K.

"Illusion Mist!" Thick vines wrapped around MetalGreymon's body.

"Get off!" MetalGreymon pressed his foot into Cherrymon's leafy mane, pushing forcefully away from the digimon, who's vines were trying to drag the dramon into his branches. "You don't want to pull me too close, or you might not like what I have to do!"

"And what is that?"

"Giga Blaster!" Two fish-shaped missiles launched from MetalGreymon's chest plate, exploding into Cherrymon's cranium and incinerating the vines. Cherrymon rolled away to recover, standing up a second later to face against the dragon. "I told you."

"Don't get too cocky, you haven't won yet. Cherry Blast!"

"Mega Claw!" MetalGreymon swiped away the explosives with his chained metal hand, letting it slice through the air towards Cherrymon, who had an easy time dodging.

"Pathetic- Illusion Mist!" Vines shot from Cherrymon's head as he floated through the air mid dodge.

"Nova Blast!" MetalGreymon fired his former level's attack at the organic material, which easily caught fire, lighting the vines in a stream of flames that soared over Cherrymon.

"Ayah!" Cherrymon began to roll all over the rocky earth as the fires started to consume the branched ultimate.

"If you're going to be a proper villain Cherrymon, then you need to learn a few basic laws of science, like that fact that 'fire' and 'trees' don't mix! Nova Blast!" MetalGreymon blasted away again at the monster, who had just begun to extinguish the flames from the previous attack. This time Cherrymon dodged the flames, stomping the earth to create a dust cloud from which he hid his ascent into the air, speeding down onto MetalGreymon.

"Lightning Blade!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

Angewomon and Andromon clashed violently, neither digimon gaining the advantage.

"Time to change your tactics Andromon, just slicing at me won't do a thing!" Angewomon taunted the machine.

"Very well, Gatling Attack." Two familiar fish shaped missiles blasted from their homes in Andromon's chest plate, swirling towards Angewomon dangerously.

"Heaven's Charm!" An enormous shining cross formed in Angewomon's palms, attracting the missile blasts and detonating them harmlessly against the force field she had created.

"If you didn't want me to attack you then why did you suggest I upgrade my assault?" Andromon was confused.

"You don't really get the concept of taunting, do you? Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon quickly fired an explosive arrow at the android, who deflected with a Lightning Blade. Behind the small smoke cloud that resulted from the two attacks' collision, Angewomon sped towards Andromon, giving him a roundhouse kick in the chest. Andromon bounced backwards painfully, stopping himself from falling onto the ground thanks to his long arms. While re-standing, however, Angewomon delivered a fist into the digimon's gut, knocking him backwards once again.

"Stop that!" Andromon commanded.

"No!" Angewomon announced, confused and irritated. She then threw her fist towards the ultimates head. He caught her arm with his hand, however, and then pulled her towards him to deliver a fist of his own into the non-armored section of Angewomon's gut.

"Ayah!" MagnaAngemon swung his arm down towards Paildramon, his energy sword sizzling through the air. Paildramon quickly seized his gauntlet held energized weapon and blocked MagnaAngemon's swinging attack. Paildramon knocked MagnaAngemon's arm away, pulling his arm back to attempt a slashing attack. MagnaAngemon kicked away Paildramon's arm and swung his rapier across the dragon-beetle's chest. The monster's thick armor absorbed the slash, which left a burnt slice mark in its wake. Paildramon then pulled his legs upwards and bounced off of MagnaAngemon's chest, separating the two digimon.

"Desperado Blaster!" Paildramon ended the sword fight and began his automatic fire.

"Gate of Destiny." MagnaAngemon quickly created a circle in the air with his sword, which generated a golden panel that opened up into a white abyss. The machine gun fire swirled into the gate, vanishing into the void. After Paildramon gave up the blasts, MagnaAngemon allowed the gate to slam shut and grabbed the disc, tossing it with force at Paildramon, who activated his sword and slashed through the attack. He easily severed the gate, but did not expect his former Desperado Blaster attack he had fired into the disc to cause the circle to explode, twisting the metal and slamming into Paildramon's armor. MagnaAngemon then took the opportunity to land a fist into the digimon's chest, bouncing him backwards.

"Cable Catcher!" Paildramon retaliated, firing his wired claws around MagnaAngemon and dragging him down towards the earth with him.

"Excalibur!" MagnaAngemon activated his blue gauntlet sword and curved it in a circular motion to damage the cords surrounding him. Paildramon released the archangel, wincing in pain as he retracted his claws back to his armored arms.

The five hero tamers watched as eleven digimon wrestled violently for domination in the battlefield. While the battle continued to rage however, a small rumbling caught the ear of Izzy, who looked on to see the boulder's within the caved in tunnel beginning to shake.

"What's going on over there?" Izzy directed the other destines eyes over to the cavern entrance, which suddenly erupted in a violent spray of stone and debris. A shadow flew into the air after the rocks, hovering above the four duels and clearing his throat. His actions attracted the attention of the eleven ultimate digimon, who began to die down the battle as the figure made sure his cape covered his body from the sunlight.

"Yolei!" He yelled into the air, attracting the attention of the evil tamers' leader, who peered her head out from behind her rock.

"Who is that?" She murmured.

"There you are!" He flew over to the girl's location and landed a few feet away. Cherrymon flinched, inching his way towards the situation while watching MetalGreymon from the corner of his eye. "I give you free reign over my team and instead of making tactical decisions you attack blindly?"

"What?"

"You're all coming with me!" The digimon swept his cape into the air, creating a dark mist that covered the battlefield. It vanished a second later, and the dark digimon then leaped back into the tunnel. Tai and the others looked around stunned, as the evil tamers and their digimon partners had all vanished.


	29. Into The Depths

Sorry for the long wait on this chapter, I had a massive case of writer's block. Here it is though, in all it's rushed glory. Read, review, and enjoy.

**Chapter Twenty Nine: The The Ascension, Part One**

Myotismon dashed through the dark tunnel, going as fast as he could to reach the main cavern before he could no longer contain the dark abyss that held the evil digidestined. He burst into the cavern relatively quickly and released his grip on the dark sphere in his arms. The darkness then spewed throughout the room, and faded away a second later. Six digidestined and their ultimate partners stood in awe and confusion.

"What's going on?" Yolei yelled at the vampire as she shook off the shock of traveling within the dark abyss. "Who are you?"

"Don't you dare talk to me like that you insolent little brat!" Myotismon stood angrily above her, raising his chest in an intimidating pose.

"Hey, back off!" Cherrymon pushed his partner out of the way and stood face to face with the undead digimon. Myotismon raised his arm, poking at the organic monster's chest with his cold finger. Cherrymon collapsed in pain, the power of Myotismon surprising to the other digimon and humans.

"Don't you dare defy me again." Myotismon turned back to Yolei, who was staggering backwards in fear. "Now for you."

"You can't take all of these digimon!" Yolei growled.

"We're not going to be 'taking' him at all Yolei." Ken stated cheerfully.

"What? You traitor!" Yolei yelled.

"What's your problem man?" Matt agreed.

"You're just going to wimp out like a coward?" Zoe added.

"The only cowards here if you attack me will be you." Myotismon stated coldly.

"Who are you anyway?"

"Idiots." Ken mumbled.

"What was that?" Yolei addressed.

"It's Devimon." His statement drew the eyes of all the digidestined except for Kazu, who was already bowing in respect towards the demon.

"Master, I'm so sorry!" Yolei quickly bowed in respect as well, shaking after how she had talked to her commander.

"Save it." Myotismon growled, glaring at her with hate while the digimon of the group degenerated and entered a respectful position. "I don't care. What I do care about is that I put you in charge because I thought you would make tactical decisions that would benefit the team."

"Sir, I did. I've been systematically eliminating the most powerful digimon of this continent and absorbing their digi-cores to make your transition here easier."

"And how many ultimates have you destroyed?"

"We've calculate that we've taken out almost 50% of them in the short time we've been here. That's how powerful we've become."

"So that leaves me with only half of the digi-cores that I should have been able to get."

"Sir???"

"You took the digi-cores that were meant for me, all of you did!" Myotismon gave a sweeping glare at all of the digidestined.

"Oh god..."

"That's the expression I was hoping for." Myotismon returned his gaze to Yolei, who was shaking uncontrollably. "Now, thanks to your incompetence, I am going to have to resort to other methods to gain what is rightfully mine!"

"And... what are those methods sir?"

"You remember I told you that you were going to help me reach the Mega level, and now you're going to have a more active part in that process than you ever dreamed."

"You wouldn't take our partner's digi-cores, would you master?" Matt whimpered, stealing a glance at Gabumon, who looked equally concerned.

"As of now? No. Unfortunately you fools are still useful somewhat. What you are going to do, is reach the highest potential you have and then give me all of your energy."

"And how will we do that?" Yolei asked.

"You will fight the hero tamers as hard as you can. Once you've raised your strength as much as possible then I will absorb your energy and use it to attempt another ascension."

"Couldn't you have just done that when we were battling them on the surface?" Ken asked.

"If you've forgotten, there were three digidestined that did not attend that battle, and I need all of you to complete this task. Now currently, Okuwamon is on his way to pick up Koichi and Keramon, and we have the Carter boy with us now."

"We?"

"Me and Henry." Myotismon gave an annoyed look at the boy.

"How will you have us all get into this supreme battle?" Joe inquired.

"The other digidestined are on their way down here now as we speak. You will separate them once again and battle them. Once Keramon and Okuwamon get here, I will have them battle Mr. Carter. They should be here soon, so get ready."

"Yes sir."

***

"My wrist is almost raw, you should really get me that ice." Eric said hopefully to Henry as he rubbed the raw area of his skin that was chained. Henry was sitting on a chair and listening to his MP3 player. He pulled one of the ear pieces out and scoffed.

"I told you, I'm not coming near you."

"You don't have to come near me, just put some in a ziplock bag and toss it over here. They have zip lock bags in the digital world right?"

"Why would I toss you a bag full of ice? So you could throw it at my head, knock me out and then slip out unnoticed?"

"You're really paranoid, you know that?"

"Just because I'm paranoid, it doesn't mean you're not out to get me."

"You are right though."

"About what?"

"I am out to get you." Eric whipped his hand forward, launching the metal spike that he had slowly been pulling out of the large boulder he was chained to into Henry's gut, the dull end connecting with a thud. Henry clutched his chest in pain as Eric jumped forward and slammed his knee into Henry's head, knocking the boy unconscious.

"You know this never would have happened if Myotismon was watching me." Eric wrapped up the chain attached to his arm into a coil on his arm, holding the metal spike as a weapon. He then pulled the MP3 player off of the unconscious boy's body. "Now you'll get this back when you stop being a soulless bastard." He then grabbed the papers spread out on Myotismon's desk and stuffed them into his pockets, grabbing the torch on the wall to guide his path as he fled the dark chamber.

As Eric ran through the lightly illuminated cavern, he frequently twisted his head around in a searching pattern. Gotta find Tentomon, he said to himself. A flame to his left soon caught his eyes. He twisted to his left and ran down the corridor, coming to a dead end where his small partner Motimon was chained by his waist to the wall. "That was easy." He bent down and, using the spike from his own shackles, picked at the brace around Motimon until it unlocked with an echoing click. This snapped the small in-training out of his unconscious state.

"Eric!" He cheered.

"Quiet," Eric put his hand over Motimon's mouth so the digital monster could not make any noise. "We're not out of the woods yet, get on my shoulder." Eric held his arm out to the digimon so that he could use it as a bridge from the ground to the much larger humans shoulder. Motimon made himself comfortable, and then Eric took off down the tunnel that he came from.

"How do we get out of here?" Motimon whispered next to his partner's ear.

"I'm not sure, but there are sporadic torches everywhere. We should be able to map a path out of here." He said as he turned down a stone tunnel that was lit by torchlight. They ran down the deep corridor, and suddenly came upon four figures walking through the darkness with a torch of their own.

"Aw damn." Eric staggered backwards as Yolei, Ken, and their digimon partners stared at him with understanding.

"Get him Mushroomon!" Yolei yelled in the small cavern, her shrill voice echoing throughout the long tunnel. Mushroomon jumped forwards, balling his hand into a fist to strike at Eric. The human ducked under the mushroom digimon as he came forward, running low as he sped past Yolei and Ken, dropping his torch and snatching the two's digivices from their hips.

"Try and fight me without these!" He taunted as he rounded another corner and escaped into a dark tunnel.

"Dammit, go after him Wormmon!" Ken instructed the caterpillar on his shoulder, who leaped onto Mushroomon's head as he ran off towards the escaping tamer. Ken and Yolei followed as the two digimon rounded the corner. They dashed down the dark tunnel, following the increasingly fading sounds of Eric's footsteps.

"They're catching up to us!" Motimon whined from Eric's shoulder; they could here the pounding of footsteps as Mushroomon picked up the pace.

"I've got an idea- attack them." Eric said between breaths.

"I don't have the strength to do any damage!"

"Just enough to slow them down for a few seconds."

"Okay," Motimon twisted around so that he was facing behind the bolting tamer. He could make out the silhouettes of Mushroomon and Wormmon behind them. "Bubble Blow!" Motimon unleashed a weak, frothy attack from his mouth, which splashed into Mushroomon's face and caused the fungi to stumble over himself and fall on his face.

"Good." Eric slowed down just a bit and slipped off his shoes, wrapping his arms around them as he dropped the two stolen digivices in his pocket. He then increased his speed dramatically, running like a ghost across the stone floor as his noiseless foot steps carried them quickly down the hall. They finally ran into a perpendicular split in the path a few yards ahead of them. "Which way?"

"What?"

"Which way?"

"Uh, oh..."

"Come on!"

"Okay, right!" Eric then slapped his hand over Motimon's mouth, ducking into the left path and pressing himself against the wall so he could not be observed by anyone from the original path. Motimon was about to protest, but then slapped his mouth shut as he saw Mushroomon with his insect rider run into the fork in the tunnel, and then break off into the right path, disappearing into the darkness. Ken and Yolei arrived a few seconds later, barely recognizable in the darkness, and vanished down the right path as well.

"Sorry I had to yell at you." Eric whispered as he leaned down to return his shoes to his sore feet. "But I didn't have time to explain what I was doing."

"That's fine just be more patient next time." Motimon replied in the destines ear, who stood up after returning his hiking boots (fortunately) and continued down the tunnel. "We need another torch, it's too dark in here."

"I know," Eric placed his hand against the wall as he walked to guide him. "We'll find one soon, there are torches placed sporadically all over the place."

"So how are we going to get out of here?"

"I'm not sure. I figured we would wait until you have enough energy to digivolve and then fly out."

"What kind of a plan is that?"

"The kind coming from a guy who has no idea what he's doing."

"He tricked us, go the other way!" A scream erupted from behind them.

"Crap, I thought we'd have more time than that." Eric began running, letting his hand glide along the wall for safety.

"Fungus Crusher!" A tiny object flew through the air and slammed into the cavern wall behind Eric, exploding with ferocity.

"Run faster!" Motimon instructed as Eric began sprinting through the cave. A small light emerged at the end of the tunnel, so Eric picked up the pace, his hand eventually separating from the wall suddenly as they stumbled into a medium sized cave lit by a few torches.

"Fungus Crusher!"

"Silk Thread!" A mushroom and a thick white string zoomed towards them.

"Now is a good time to digivolve Motimon!" Eric whimpered as he realized this was a dead end.

"I'll give you a little more than that, **Motimon, warp digivolve to... Kabuterimon!**" The champion evolution surprised everyone in the room, making Eric stagger backwards and Mushroomon and Wormmon fly back onto the ground.

"Mushroomon- damn!" Yolei and Ken dashed into the chamber, only to find the mammoth that was Kabuterimon standing in their way.

"Wormmon, do your stuff." Ken whispered in his partner's ear as he pulled him away from the towering champion. Wormmon nodded and scurried out of sight of the Kabuterimon, who's eyes were trained on Yolei and her partner.

"Okay, now let's rethink this pattern here." Eric smiled as he came around Kabuterimon's hulking body to come within eyesight of Yolei. "How about, instead of you chasing me, Kabuterimon here chases you?" Kabuterimon breathed deeply in an intimidating move. Yolei, Ken, and Mushroomon all flinched in response. A sudden stream of silk suddenly shot across Kabuterimon however, shoving into Eric's pocket and taking away one of the stolen digivices. "Damn."

"Wormmon, this cave's too small for Paildramon!" Ken instructed his partner as his digivice flew from the insects thread into the tamer's palm.

"Got it. **Wormmon digivolve to... Stingmon!**" The humanoid bee hovered in the air, facing off against the much larger yet equally powerful beetle.

***

"Which way?" Tai asked as he aimed the flashlight in between the two paths. Agumon sniffed the air, trying to detect a proper path.

"I smell a lot of different things in the right path." Agumon replied, "Like a blend of a lot of different places."

"As if there are a few different digimon down there." Renamon supplemented.

"Then let's go." Tai started walking down the right path, the others following closely. He waved his flashlight over the walls of the cavern ahead, repeating this motion every few seconds to determine the shape of the path.

"Why did you have a flashlight with you anyway T.K.?" Izzy questioned the young boy, who was walking as fast as he could just behind the others.

"It's not important." T.K. mumbled.

"People don't just carry flashlights around in their backpacks T.K.," Rika said, "What else you got in there?"

"Nothing important."

"Stop saying that."

"Well it's not."

"Just tell us T.K." Izzy groaned.

"It's personal."

"T.K.'s right, it isn't important." Tai stated from the front of the line. "The point is we needed it and now we have it."

"Thanks Tai."

"We should be getting closer to wherever everyone down here is." Agumon stated as he took another sniff of the air.

"Yes, we're definitely getting closer." Renamon agreed, also sniffing the air.

"There are some voices behind us." Terriermon whispered in fright as he stared to the groups rear on top of Izzy's shoulder.

"Crap." Izzy sighed as the group twisted around to try and observe the voices.

"What should we do?" Kari whimpered.

"I can take them." Omekamon replied.

"What if they evolve to champion." Tai asked.

"They shouldn't be able to fit in here."

"Woodmon and Chrysalimon could."

"Oh."

"We need to keep moving." Rika hissed as she began to walk slowly away from the voices.

"She's right," Said Renamon, "If we want to have a chance against them we need to get into an open area."

"Let's move." Tai began walk quickly down the tunnel, shuffling Kari ahead of him. The twelve humans and digimon all began to hurry down the tunnel, scurrying to escape the cavern before the voices behind caught up with them.

"I see light!" T.K. cheered silently as the group hurried through the cavern.

"Hurry!" Tai weaved around the others until he was positioned behind them, shepherding them down the tunnel.

"The exit!" Izzy exclaimed with a whisper, dashing forwards as he broke out into a burst of torchlight. The rest of the digidestined and their partners caught up with him a few seconds later, and the lot of them looked around the room to see that they were in a large cavern with many torches resting along the walls.

"Where are we?" Rika inquired.

"Look how easy it was to get them down here." A dark voice laughed from the shadows.

"What? Who is that?" Tai blinked and flinched as he spun around, trying to determine the source of the noise. Just then a dark shadow dropped down over Kari, sweeping her up in the darkness and dashing out through another cave.

"Tai!" Kari called out as she disappeared into a tunnel across the cavern.

"Kari!" Tai burst after the shadow, Agumon and Salamon followed close behind.

"Tai wait!" Izzy called after him.

"My sister... not waiting!" Tai's words came out scattered as he vanished into the cavern as well with his two digimon companions.

"We need to go after them." Rika stated as she started towards the tunnel.

"No, it might be a trap!" Izzy protested.

"We can't leave Kari and Tai alone down there, we need to go!"

"But what if that's exactly what they want us to do?"

"It doesn't matter!"

"Uh, guys," Omekamon was staring at the tunnel they had used to enter the cavern, "I think we already fell into their trap." The rest of the digidestined turned around to see Matt, Zoe and Kazu with their partners blocking the tunnel entrance.

***

"He's coming in from the right!" Eric exclaimed to Kabuterimon, who was breathing heavily on the ground as Stingmon rose into the air and struck down on the beetle's left side. Kabuterimon rolled over at the last second. Stingmon instead crashed into the ground, his purple saber plunged into the earth. Stingmon struggled to lift his arm out of the rock, freeing himself and jumping away at the last second before Kabuterimon retaliated by swiping his hand at the humanoid bee.

Suddenly two figures jumped onto Eric, pinning him down on the ground. Eric tried to cry out to his partner, but his mouth and part of his eyes were covered by what he assumed was Mushroomon's hand. He felt a human hand slip into his pocket and pull away Yolei's digivice. Both of the figures then leaped away, dashing back into the previous tunnel past Ken, who was watching the battle between the two insects. Eric watched Yolei and Mushroomon disappear into the tunnel, sighing at his stupidity.

Kabuterimon in the meantime launched another fist at Stingmon, who expertly dodged the attack, landing on the ground and leaping up to deliver a saber attack at the larger bug's arm. Kabuterimon rolled away, finding little room to dodge in the cavern. Stingmon then rushed in for another slash. Kabuterimon thrust his arm at the charging Stingmon, letting the beetle's blade slash into the larger monster's palm. Stingmon's victorious attack was soon revealed to be a clever rouse by Kabuterimon, who grasped the smaller insects arm and pulled him up into the air, slamming the evil digimon into the wall. Kabuterimon released the digimon, who had degenerated his sword after the brutal attack. Stingmon rolled to the ground, seemingly beaten.

"Don't lose Stingmon!" Ken yelled, tapping his digivice. A dark stream then burst from his crest and digivice, which both wrapped around the unconscious bee. A second later the dragon/bee hybrid Paildramon stood tall. The two gargantuan digimon now took up most of the room in the cave, and Eric and Ken had to stuff themselves in the corners of the cavern and the tunnel respectively. Paildramon then raised his fist and slammed it into Kabuterimon's face. The beetle tried to block the attack, but was too slow, and his massive body was thrown a few feet into the wall behind him.

"Kabuterimon, he's too strong for you!" Eric tried to object as Paildramon drove his fist into the beetle's chest. Kabuterimon coughed violently as the monster began to consecutively pound his fists into the champion. "Degenerate and get out of there now!"

"Your partner is not going anywhere!" Paildramon laughed as he twirled around for a powerful kick. Kabuterimon attempted a block, but the powerful Paildramon burst through the beetle's defensive arms and landed into his chest again, causing a jerking reaction from Kabuterimon.

"No!" Eric stood helpless, unable to assist his partner. Paildramon leaped away, ready for another charge, but bumped into the wall instead, the cave too small for him to maneuver effectively. This was the chance Kabuterimon needed. Upon realizing he couldn't reach his full potential for the attack, Paildramon retrained his eyes on Kabuterimon, who had leaped from the ground and tried to pounce on Paildramon. The hybrid blocked with his arms, his claws interlocking with Kabuterimon's in a struggling effort.

"He doesn't stand a chance." Ken smiled.

As the two digimon were struggling, a dark light suddenly entered the cave. A scream of pain sounded from the two battling behemoths, and when the darkness vanished and the torchlight returned, Wormmon and Tentomon were both laying on the ground, defeated. Ken rushed up to his partner and grabbed him off the ground, returning to the tunnel as Eric came to his partner's aid. Ken then turned to his opponent and smiled before dashing out of the cave.

"Phase one Complete."

***

"Kari, Kari!" Tai called to his sister as the darkness carrying her away flew fast ahead of him. Tai breathed heavily as he tried to match the darknesses speed. It soon outran him, however, reaching into the depths of the tunnel and escaping Tai's eyesight. The darkness fled through the cave, arriving at a circular alcove far in the tunnel. Henry, Yolei, Koichi, and their partners were all waiting there. The darkness dropped to the ground, releasing the young girl onto the ground. Myotismon then shook off the dark aura around him, landing on the ground next to the four humans.

"Why did you bring her here sir?" Yolei questioned her master, who was breathing semi-heavily after the flight.

"I need Koichi to take her to another part of the cave, so her partner can follow and engage Keramon in a match to build up the two monster's power." He replied.

"What should we do?" Henry asked.

"Yolei, go to the large cavern down this path," Myotismon pointed down the tunnel he had just emerged from, "and wait for Tai there. Engage him when he arrives and I will be there shortly."

"Yes sir." Yolei nodded, her and Mushroomon running down the tunnel to face against Tai. Koichi then grabbed the unconscious Kari and started walking down the opposite tunnel, his partner following close behind.

"What do you need me to do sir?" Henry asked as the four sets of footsteps began to die down. "I can go and-"

"You will do nothing!" Myotismon snapped at the boy, towering over him.

"Sir?" Henry whimpered.

"You let Eric escape!"

"But you were going to-"

"I don't care what I was going to do! Your job was to keep the American in the prison until I needed him released, and you couldn't even do that!"

"But-"

"You have constantly failed me Henry. I am tired of it. You are through!"

"What?" Henry staggered backwards, his partner leaping in front of him to protect him.

"You won't do anything to Henry!" Kokuwamon announced.

"I'm not going to do anything to him, I'm going to do something to you!" Myotismon lashed his arm towards Kokuwamon.

**"Kokuwamon, warp digivolve to... Okuwamon!"** The giant digimon took up most of the room in the cave, but his evolution was short lived. Myotismon's hand slammed into Okuwamon's chest, piercing the digimon's armor and wrapping his palm around the insect's digi-core. Myotismon yanked the glowing sphere out of the monster's chest, the orb flowing into the vampire's arm, power surging through him. Okuwamon fell to the ground as his data burst into nothingness.

"O...okuwamon...?" Henry whimpered as Myotismon walked down the tunnel after Yolei.

"You brought this on yourself Henry."

***

"Yolei!" Tai burst into a large cavern, where Yolei and her partner were staring at the three from the other side.

"Salamon, go find Kari, we'll take care of her and meet you." Agumon commanded. Salamon complied, dashing across the cavern and dodging Yolei and Cherrymon, who seemed only interested in Tai and Agumon.

"I'm glad you made it Tai," Yolei smiled, "You're just in time for the party."


	30. True to His Nature

**C****hapter Thirty: True to his Nature**

Salamon breathed heavily as she ran as fast as possible down the dark tunnel, her cat/dog hybrid eyes revealing the almost invisible path ahead of her. After a few minutes of running, she came to a small alcove in the cave, where a torch had illuminated the walls. As she passed the alcove, she stopped when she saw a boy in an orange vest kneeling on the ground, his face covered in tears. She stared at the boy for a few seconds, who seemed oblivious to the monster's presence. She began to walk away slowly, wary of the evil digidestined.

Salamon moved on, escaping into the next tunnel and speeding up once she escaped the torchlight from the previous cavern. She continued down the path for a few minutes, eventually arriving at a mid sized cavern, where a small girl was slumped over on the ground.

"Kari!"

***

"Give me my sister." Tai commanded to the girl standing on the other side of the cavern.

"That's not gonna happen Tai." Yolei stated coldly. "If you want to find Kari, you're going to have to get past me." She glared at the opposing pre-teen, who gave the same glance back to her.

"Then that's what I'll do."

"**Agumon, warp digivolve to... MetalGreymon!"** The intimidating dramon now stood in front of Tai, facing against Cherrymon, who had stepped in front of Yolei to begin the battle.

"How do you expect MetalGreymon to defeat my partner Tai? They're equal in strength!" Yolei said in a condescending tone.

"Don't bet on it!" MetalGreymon began the battle, thrusting his metal arm into Cherrymon's chest. The wood creature leaped away, bouncing off of the wall and coming at MetalGreymon with a fist extended towards him.

"Nova Blast!" MetalGreymon launched his champion attack at Cherrymon, who had to use one of the vines hidden within his head to latch onto the ground and pull himself out of the way. This gave MetalGreymon time to attack again. "Nova Blast!" MetalGreymon fired again, this time chasing after the fire ball as it sped towards Cherrymon with a fury. Cherrymon leaped out of the way once again, but did not expect MetalGreymon to emerge from behind the attack, and was caught off guard as MetalGreymon head butted the woodland monster with the metal spike on his face plate.

"Cherry Blast!" Cherrymon tossed a handful of red orbs from his leafy mane, which pummeled into MetalGreymon and exploded on impact. MetalGreymon pulled himself away from the rain of explosives before they could all detonate on him. The dragon then flapped his heavy, decayed wings, creating a huge gust as he rose into the air. The powerful winds knocked both Yolei and Tai down at the opposite ends of the cave. Cherrymon in the meantime regained his bearings, the root gifted digimon immune to his enemy's aeolian force.

"Nova Blast!" MetalGreymon fired another champion attack, this time at a more advantageous position above his opponent.

"Cherry Blast!" Cherrymon responded with his red sphere toss, the two opposing moves colliding in the air and washing a sea of smoke in between the two monsters.

"Mega Claw!" MetalGreymon took the opportunity to launch his metal paw out of its socket and through the smoke towards Cherrymon.

"Illusion Mist!" Cherrymon anticipated the attack and streamed vines from his canopy. His vines collided with his mechanical opponent's sharp claws, the latter shredding most of the organic whips. The survivors wrapped around the chain connecting the alloy weapon to the rest of MetalGreymon's arm. Cherrymon then pulled back, dragging MetalGreymon back to the ground before he could protest. With his new restrictions, however, MetalGreymon found himself in an advantageous position.

"Nova Blast!" MetalGreymon fired a flaming orb point blank at Cherrymon. The tree released what vines had not already been burned and rolled away from the blast, his extensions aflame as he scurried away. MetalGreymon chased after him, stomping through the tunnel as the organic monster in front of him rolled violently across the stone floor to put out the flames he had caught from his foe.

Cherrymon stopped, the flames extinguished, and flipped himself up to face MetalGreymon, who was speeding towards him. "Cherry Blast!"

"Giga Blaster!" Two fish missile fired from MetalGreymon's chest and collided with the Dionysian explosives. MetalGreymon leaped through the smoke cloud that formed and pounced onto Cherrymon, pinning the evil ultimate onto the ground. Cherrymon gagged violently for a second as the impact of MetalGreymon's crash vibrated throughout the tree's entire body. Cherrymon then began to struggle, but MetalGreymon had him pinned too tightly. The metallic digimon then rose his head, forming a powerful nova blast within his jaw.

Cherrymon quickly glanced to his left and his right trying to find some form of escape. He spotted a boulder that had been dislodged from the earth due to the shock wave of MetalGreymon slamming into the ground on top of Cherrymon. In a quick act of desperation he latched onto the boulder and swung it upwards, driving it into MetalGreymon's neck as the monster pulled his head down to fire a Nova Blast.

"Gah!" MetalGreymon gagged as he flew backwards off of Cherrymon. The monster gripped his neck with his organic arm, clutching the bruise as he rolled over in pain. As the dramon struggled on the ground, Cherrymon stood up, holding his bruised chest with his arm. The monster breathed heavily, dragging his legs over to the dragon, who lay helpless on the earth.

"MetalGreymon, look out!" Tai called to his partner, who reacted by rolling onto his stomach. The dragon spotted Cherrymon getting closer, and quickly began flapping his wings. This pulled the ultimate into the air while creating a dust cloud over Cherrymon, who began to cough heavily. MetalGreymon could not sustain his flight, however, and dropped to the ground with an earth quaking thud. Cherrymon heard the drop, and acted quickly, leaping out of the dust cloud with a balled up fist extended towards the dragon.

"MetalGreymon!" Tai called to his almost unconscious partner. MetalGreymon lifted his head and flickered his heavy eyes open, observing Cherrymon come closer to him by the milisecond. MetalGreymon suddenly filled with adrenaline and stood up quickly.

"Nova Blast!" Cherrymon was unable to swerve and avoid the point blank blast, and caught the full impact of the fire in his gut. Cherrymon toppled over onto the ground, groaning painfully. The gears in MetalGreymon's metallic body groaned loudly as he stood up over his opponent. He cracked his shoulders to get over the pain, then rubbed his neck to calm the pain from his bruise.

"Giga Blaster!" MetalGreymon weakly launched a missile from his chest plate. It burned towards Cherrymon, crashing into his chest and incinerating the evil ultimate. Cherrymon went up in flames, and the monster fell to the ground as a rookie. MetalGreymon breathed heavily for a few moments, then degenerated to Agumon. The dinosaur stumbled back to Tai, who caught the tired digimon and placed him lightly on the ground.

"You okay?" He asked the tired monster in his arms.

"Yeah, great." Agumon dropped his head in exhaustion. Tai turned his head away from Agumon for a split second, just enough time to spot Yolei scoop up Mushroomon in her arms and run down one of the many tunnels that led out of the cavern.

"No you don't!" Tai placed his partner down gently, then bolted towards the fleeting girl.

"Tai!" Kari suddenly emerged from the cavern parallel to the one Yolei was running down. Tai forgot about the enemy girl and turned towards Kari, grasping her in a deep hug. "You're suffocating me Tai." She gasped.

"Oh, sorry." Tai released the girl from his grasp. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"She was just lying there in one of the caverns." Salamon answered for her.

"Yeah, they just left me there." Kari added.

"Why would they do that: go through all the trouble of taking you if they were just going to let you go?"

"I don't know, but at least we're all safe. We should get back to the others." Agumon stated as he weakly dragged himself over to the scene.

"The others." Kari muttered.

"What?" Tai inquired.

"We have to go!" Kari pulled away from Tai's grip and dashed towards the exit where Agumon was lying a minute before.

"Kari, slow down!" Salamon ran after her.

"Kari, what's the matter, why are you-" As Tai ran after the girl, it suddenly dawned on him what she was thinking. "Rika."

***

"Tentomon, Tentomon, get up." Eric shook the large rookie's body a little, awaking the insect. Tentomon turned onto his back to look up at his partner. "How ya doing buddy?"

"What happened?" Tentomon asked groggily.

"A shadow beat you up." Eric smiled.

"How did that happen?"

"Beats me, as long as you're okay." Eric extended his arm towards his partner, who reached out accordingly.

"What do you mean a shadow beat me up?"

"I mean a shadow burst into the room and knocked you out." Eric pulled his partner to his feet. The beetle's knees buckled under his own weight for a second, but he soon regained his footing and stood steady. "You and Wormmon."

"What was it?"

"I'm guessing it was Myotismon. We should probably head out- try and find that main cave that Myotismon led us to." Eric began to walk towards the tunnel where Ken had previously departed from.

"How are we supposed to-egh." Tentomon clutched his knee, doubling over and wincing.

"Tentomon?"

"I'm okay..."

"No you're not." Eric lifted the small digimon and sat him down so that no weight was pressing down on the insect's knee.

"I'm just tired from fighting with Paildramon in that cramped space." The digital monster sighed, rubbing his limb.

"All right. Get on my back." Eric bent down so the digimon could be supported.

"I thought you said I was too heavy to be on your back."

"Yeah, well it won't do either of us good if you collapse just walking around, so I'll just have to deal with it." Eric nodded to his spine, prompting Tentomon to lift himself up and wrap his arms around Eric's shoulders. Eric stood up with great strain, taking a second to balance himself before starting down the tunnel. "This should be easier than when we first met. I've had about a month of walking to toughen me up."

"Oh, yes. Walking is easy. It's not like fighting big monsters with automatic weapons. That's a cinch."

"You know what I mean."

"Why do you think Myotismon would attack his own guy?"

"Huh?"

"Wormmon: you said that the shadow flew into the cavern we were all in and knocked out both me and Paildramon."

"Yeah, that's right. I didn't really think about it too much, I was mostly trying to make sure you were all right."

"It's weird though."

"What's weird?"

"I know that when I was knocked out, I felt all of my power being sucked out of me."

"Sucked out of you- how?" Eric swerved the torch he had taken off of the cavern wall to lay his eyes on another tunnel that branched off of the one they were on.

"I don't know."

"Awesome." Eric began to drag himself and his heavy partner into the tunnel, when a flash of blue, Orange, white, and pink bolted past him. "Huh?" Eric turned his head down the tunnel, extending the torch into the rocky appendage, the torchlight reflecting off of the cavern walls. "Tai?"

***

"Master!" Yolei tumbled into the small cavern that Myotismon was standing in.

"Yolei- I'm guessing it didn't go too well."

"No sir."

"It doesn't matter." Myotismon turned around so that he was facing his servant. A stream of data was flowing into his arm. "I received the data I needed from your battle. Now all I need is for Zoe's group and Koichi to complete their tasks and my ascension will be complete." The stream finished pulling into Myotismon's palm, and he then slipped his arm back under his cape.

"I'm sorry I failed you sir."

"You did not fail me. The end result of the battle did not matter. The only thing that was important about your battle was that you release enough energy for me to utilize."

"Yes sir. What do you need me to do now?"

"Go back to your base and wait for the other tamers. They, and myself, will join you soon."

"Yes sir." Yolei departed from the cavern, the unconscious Mushroomon in her arms.

He walked over to the wall, and slipped out a dagger he had hidden within his robes, chuckling as an idea suddenly came into his head.

***

"Move!" MagnaAngemon leaped into Taomon, knocking her away from MegaSeadramon, who's tail slammed into the earth where the ultimates once stood.

"Rapid Fire!" Rapidmon sent a stream of lasers at MegaSeadramon, who took the blast unprepared and flew across the room into Zudomon. Both of the aquatic monsters rolled away, but Andromon leaped in the two digimon's place.

"Lightning Blade!" Andromon fired his electric beam against Rapidmon's energy bullets. Both attacks vaporized against each other, but Andromon's burned through Rapidmon's attack faster than the reverse.

"Half Moon Kick!" WereGarurumon leaped into the air and drove his fist into Rapidmon's back, knocking him into a pile along with Taomon and MagnaAngemon.

"We're outnumbered." Taomon grunted as she lifted the two digimon off of her.

"We can't just back out, fire the strongest attack you can and try to take out one of them." MagnaAngemon instructed.

"That'll take too long."

"Not if we attack those two." Rapidmon nodded his head at Zudomon and MegaSeadramon, who were struggling to get untangled from each other.

"I'll hold off WereGarurumon and Andromon so you can make th attack." Taomon suggested.

"Right." Both MagnaAngemon and Rapidmon nodded. Taomon then leaped into the air and dove down onto Andromon, smashing her fist into the machine.

"Talisman Star!" She fired an attack at the incoming WereGarurumon, who took the attack in the gut, then toppled over. Andromon suddenly threw the fox off of him and thrust his fist into her. Taomon blocked with her brush, the two struggling to gain the upper hand.

"Tri-Beam!" Rapidmon jumped into the air and created a triangle of energy, holding the attack off until it was burning with power.

"Gate of Destiny." MagnaAngemon formed a circle with his sword, creating a golden gate that tried to open, but MagnaAngemon grabbed the sides of the disc, preventing them from unleashing. MagnaAngemon waited until the gate could no longer be contained, then released. A huge gust then swirled from the gate, encompassing MegaSeadramon and Zudomon. Data began to strip away from the two, their power weakening. Rapidmon then released the energy he had been holding back, a triad of power smashing into the two. MegaSeadramon and Zudomon then suddenly raised their heads and attacked as well.

"Mega Ice Blast!"

"Vulcan's Hammer!" Both evil digimon's attacks collided with MagnaAngemon and Rapidmon's moves. A dark shadow then overcame the entire cavern, covering the entire area in darkness. The darkness soon vanished, and the torchlight returned, however.

"What happened?" Rika exclaimed as she ran out into the battlefield, looking over the three rookie digimon that now lay where their ultimate partners once stood. T.K. and Izzy also ran out into the cavern from the tunnel they had concealed themselves in, running to their own partners.

"Why did you de-digivolve Terriermon?" Izzy asked his partner as he lifted the small digimon off of the ground.

"Rika, Izzy, T.K.!" Tai and Kari burst into the cavern, running over to the other three humans, who were all comforting their partners.

"What happened?" Kari inquired.

"Omekamon!" Eric burst through the same tunnel as Tai, running not towards the other tamers but towards the battered champion that had lost early on in the battle. He slid over to the monster, placing the rider on his back down and lifting the tin man's head. "Omekamon, you okay?"

"Better than some cases." He whispered.

"What?"

"Is he okay?" Hakase dashed over to the three figures, checking on his friend.

"He's not great, but I think he'll live. How are the others?" Eric asked.

"We got separated for a little bit but everyone's fine now. Although some dark shadow came into the room and knocked all the digimon out."

"The same thing happened to Tentomon and Wormmon." Eric stated in wonder.

"Rika, are you okay?" Tai asked the girl who was shaking her defeated partner awake.

"Yeah Tai, I'm fine, worry about them!" She nodded her head at the four evil tamers, who were all fleeing through the caves.

"Not this time." Tai ran after them again, following Matt, the last of the destined to make it into the tunnel, through the darkness.

"Tai, wait dammit!" Eric called to the boy, leaving Omekamon to chase after him. The two hero digidestined then followed the trail of Matt, who they could hear bolting through the caverns at a breakneck speed. As they were following him, they saw him run into a cavern with a faint light, skid to a halt, and then swear under his breath.

"It's a dead end Tai, stop him!" Eric called from behind the leader. Tai thought quick, his eyes quickly training onto a large stone sitting a few feet in front of him. He pulled his foot back, driving his heel into the stone. It sliced through the air, hitting the back of Matt's head before the boy could react. He fell to the ground, the Tsunomon in his hands falling over, unconscious.

"We got him!" Tai cheered as the two boy's arrived in the cavern. Eric went to check on Matt's health while Tai breathed a sigh of relief.

"We lost the others."

"But we got Matt, and that'll matter to T.K."

"Do you know what's going on Tai?"

"No, I just reacted to the situation."

"Good reaction."

"Thanks." Tai glanced over the walls of the cave they were now in, his eyes catching the sight of a carving in the wall. "What the..." He walked over to the carving. "Hitherto Babel, God's Own. Those words sound familiar to you?" Tai stared at them with concern.

"What sounds familiar?" Eric asked as he walked over to the wall.

"This phrase." Tai tapped the wall under the carving.

"Not really."

"Oh god, it's another one of Myotismon's plans isn't it?"

"What?" Eric inquired. Tai backed away, leaning against another wall.

"Myotismon, he led us down here to trap us. Then he took Kari away and led me down into another trap. But he didn't do anything to Kari, he just left her there for me to find. He put our friends into another trap, and now he this phrase here for some other irritating purpose."

"Tai-"

"I can't take this anymore. This thing is driving me crazy." Tai gripped his head.

"This thing?"

"Myotismon. He's toying with me, making me follow his every move so that I can be there to watch him crush me."

"How could you know-"

"Because he was in me! He was inside my crest and my crest is a part of me. And now he's leaving behind a bunch of clues for me to follow him, and I just can't take it. He stole my sister, tried to kill all my friends, the words-"

"The words are meaningless Tai."

"No they're not!"

"Yes they are! It's an anagram."

"What?"

"Hitherto Babel, God's Own. It's an anagram for Go Down the Rabbit's hole. It's from a book."

"They don't have books in the digital world!"

"They kind of do."

"No!"

"Tai, get a hold of yourself!" Eric grabbed the boy's collar and pressed him against the wall. "Myotismon's just trying to mess with you Tai. For some reason he has it out for you, and he's doing whatever he can to mess with your mind to stop you from performing at your best!"

"But why would he?"

"Because you're the leader Tai! I know we keep saying that like it's nothing, but Agumon was the first to digivolve to champion, and he was the first to digivolve to ultimate, and you can be damn sure that he'll be the first to reach mega if we ever get that pleasure."

"Those are just coincidences."

"No they're not Tai. Devimon kept your crest, because you're special. He knew that if any of us found our crests, that he would still be able to stop us. But he knew that if you found yours, that you would defeat him in an instant, and you did."

"He was in my crest Eric."

"His data was. His data corrupted you and Agumon, not his soul."

"Then why do I keep having these dreams?" Tears began to form in Tai's eyes.

"What dreams?"

"Every night, I dream I'm in some darkness, and there is something always trying to consume me. Why do I keep having these dreams if Myotismon is not really in my head?"

"They're just nightmares Tai."

"I saw Myotismon in one."

"But you-"

"More than two weeks ago, I saw Myotismon in one of my dreams, and now he's here, plotting against us, trying to kill us."

"You need to get a grip Tai, what happened? You see this meaningless set of digits and you break down? So what if you're having preeminence nightmares, it's just something that you're going to have to deal with if we're going to survive."

"I'm only twelve Eric, I can't deal with this." Tai dropped his head against the wall, tears dripping from his chin. "He took Kari away from me, and he could have killed her if he wanted to. I can't deal with this."

"You have to." Eric held out his hand. "You need to. The group needs you Tai, the digimon need you. Kari needs you. You need to keep it together or we aren't going to survive this place."

"How come you're not scared?"

"Of course I'm scared Tai. I'm terrified. We're trapped in this world where everything that moves wants to kill us, even those who are supposed to be our friends." Eric waved his arm over to the unconscious Matt. "But we need to do this. You promised Agumon that you would save his world, and I don't think we can go home until we accomplish that task."

"How will we know?"

"When Myotismon held me captive, he told me that one of the Royal Knights, Leopardmon, was still alive. If we have to, we'll find him and make him send us home."

"You think he'd have the power to do that?"

"Myotismon told me that he brought us here, so I'm pretty sure."

"How do you know Myotismon's not lying?"

"Because he doesn't want to play mind games with me Tai, only you."

"Why does Myotismon only do this to me? Play with my head?"

"Because he's scared of you Tai. You're the only one that can beat him." Eric held out his arm to help the boy up.

"I'm sorry I broke down like that." Tai wiped the tears from his face.

"It's no problem. I'd probably do that too if Myotismon had kidnapped my brother."

"You have a brother?"

"Yeah, he's back home thank God."

"You never mentioned him before."

"I guess I was just thankful he wasn't trapped here in the digital world with us." Eric's comment placed a depressed look on Tai's face. "Listen, why don't you just worry about stopping Myotismon, and I'll worry about keeping everyone safe."

"Huh?"

"You're most likely the only one that can stop Myotismon before he reaches mega and destroys us all, so why don't you just focus on that and I'll make sure that nothing bad happens to your sister or the others."

"You know that you're not the greatest person for that job? Remember what happened last time?"

"I was full of myself back then. Don't worry, work on defeating Myotismon and getting us all back home, and I'll make sure that son of a bitch never lays another hand on your sister."

"I don't know exactly how I'm going to do that, but okay. I will." Both kids then walked over to Matt and lifted him off of the ground, supporting him on their shoulders. They began to walk out of the cavern (Tsunomon was being held under Eric's other arm), when Tai took one more glance at the sentence on the wall written by Myotismon.

"They don't mean anything Tai," Eric sighed, "It's from a children's book. Go down the Rabbit's hole: Alice in Wonderland. I'll show you when we get home."

Yeah, home, if only, Tai thought to himself.


	31. A Move of Desperation

**Chapter Thirty One: A Move of Desperation**

"Matt!" T.K. ran at top speed towards Tai and Eric, who were dragging an unconscious body back from the dark tunnel with them.

"T.K. no!" Rika grabbed the boy's collar, preventing him from running over to the boy.

"No, he's my brother!" T.K. protested.

"And right now, your brother has been infected by the dark needle, so keep away from him!"

"No!"

"T.K., calm down, your brother's okay." Tai reassured the young boy as he placed the unconscious enemy down on the ground. "How are you doing Kari?"

"I'm fine Tai." Kari replied in confusion.

"What happened back there?" Rika interrogated.

"Nothing important." Eric replied. "We chased the evil digidestined, caught Matt, Tai had a mental breakdown-"

"Would you-!" Tai growled at Eric, creating a fist.

"Tai had a mental breakdown?" Izzy questioned.

"It wasn't a breakdown!" Tai opposed.

"Liar." Eric shrugged.

"Why would Tai have a mental breakdown?" Hakase asked.

"Myotismon wrote some meaningless phrase on the wall to mess with his head."

"Would you quit it Eric?" Tai growled.

"Calm down Tai. If you can't make fun of yourself then you're going to be a moody bastard for God knows how long."

"What did you do to him?" Hakase was examining the unconscious Matt, looking perplexed.

"I kicked a stone into the back of his head." Tai replied.

"How did you hit him so well?"

"I play soccer."

"For who, the Army? It looks like a sniper popped him in the back of the head." Hakase stepped forward to examine the boy's medulla. He accidentally stepped on the boy's arm, however.

"Ayah!" Matt awoke violently, flipping off of the ground and knocking Hakase away. He rolled around in pain, clutching his arm, almost screaming.

"Stop him!" Hakase commanded. Eric and Rika then sprang to action. They each grabbed one of Matt's shoulders and pinned him to the wall. The evil tamer howled in pain, struggling violently to break free.

"What's wrong with him?" T.K. asked in a panic. "What did you do to my brother?" He glared at Hakase, who flinched for a second.

"He didn't to anything T.K., there's something wrong with his arm." Rika stated from her position pinning Matt to the wall. She moved her arms a bit to reveal a white bandage wrapped around the struggling boy's arm.

"Matt?"

"That is interesting, isn't it." A dark voice boomed from the ceiling.

"What's that?" Izzy whimpered.

"It's Myotismon." Tai growled.

"Who?" Rika asked as she and Eric continued to keep Matt pinned against the wall.

"Devimon's evolved form." Eric replied ominously.

"What are you doing here?" Tai growled.

"Master, please help me!" Matt struggled violently to escape to his ally. Myotismon chuckled while overlooking the scene, then spoke.

"You will release the tamer or suffer the consequences."

"No!" T.K. commanded, leaping up from his seated position.

"T.K.!" Kari objected.

"He's my brother, stay away from him!" T.K. took a few steps towards the vampire, who was hovering a dozen feet away from them.

"T.K. stop!" Kari grabbed the boy's arm, preventing him from making a rash decision.

"That's sweet, defending your older brother," Myotismon smiled condescendingly.

"Back off." Tai commanded his enemy.

"No."

"Back off or I'll make you back off!" Salamon suddenly interrupted, the only digimon in the group with any energy left.

"You, ha! That's humorous."

"Kari." Salamon looked back to her partner, who nodded. "**Salamon, warp digivolve to... Angewomon!"** Angewomon then leaped into the air to match Myotismon's height.

"You won't face me."

"And why is that?"

"Because you won't win."

"We'll see. Celestial Arrow!"

"Crimson Lightning!" Angewomon's heavenly bow collided with a dark red energy blade. The two attacks exploded on contact, and both Myotismon and Angewomon then rushed in for close combat. They threw a few punches and kicks at each other, then dove to opposite ends of the cavern.

"Crimson Lighting!"

"Heaven's Charm!" The red blade slashed across Angewomon's defenses, harmless. Angewomon then grasped the end of the energized cross and spun around to pick up momentum. She released the end of the cross after a few turns and sent it flying towards Myotismon, who had been racing towards her to attack before she could complete the toss. The holy shield slammed into Myotismon, and he screamed in pain as the godly object began to burn his body. He thrust the hovering shield off of him and brushed off the ash that had formed on his chest. Angewomon then flew down and grabbed the bottom of the cross, slinging it over her shoulder.

"That's a little disgraceful isn't it?"

"I think I can be forgiven if it's to defeat you." She glared at him, then grasped the foot of the cross with both hands and swung the mighty object like a hammer at the vampire. Myotismon swept his cape over his body, shielding him from the attack. Angewomon scoffed at the defense, believing it would not work as her righteous hammer slammed into the monster. She was quickly proven wrong as the cross began to disintegrate upon impact. Angewomon pulled the remains of the shield away quickly, trying to salvage what was left. The was only able to pull away the lower handle, the crossed portion gone. Where it once was, a sharp, energized point remained. "Blast."

"Touch of Evil!" Myotismon shot his arm out of his cape, grasping Angewomon's stomach with his undead claws.

"Gyah!" Angewomon grabbed what she could of her stomach and attempted to pull away from the monster. His grip was too tight, however. Myotismon sent a static through his arm that became a full blown electric blast once it flowed into Angewomon. "Ayah!"

"Angewomon!" Kari looked on helplessly as her partner fell to the ground, degenerating in the process. Salamon soon crashed onto the ground, unconscious.

"I told her she wouldn't be able to defeat me." Myotismon gave a demonic smile.

"Bastard." Rika mumbled.

"I'm going to make this simple, and save you all a lot of trouble." Myotismon began as he lowered himself to the ground. He grabbed the cat/dog by his feet, then tossed her over to the rest of the digidestined, where Izzy caught her in his arms, and handed the small rookie over to Kari.

"What do you want Myotismon?" Rika asked coldly.

"I want to fight Tai and Agumon." He replied.

"What?" Tai asked in confusion and anger.

"Tai, you and Agumon are the only ones that have ever had the strength to really stand against me. My true potential cannot be tested until I face you, one last time."

"Fine then." Tai stood up, his tired partner right next to him nodding.

"Tai!" Rika objected.

"No!" Added Kari.

"Just one condition." Tai ignored the pleads from the people behind him.

"And what would that be Kamiya?" Myotismon smiled.

"Give us a couple hours."

"What?"

"Agumon is tired, he just had a draining battle with Cherrymon. Give him a few hours to regain his strength, so he can fight you fairly."

"And why would I do that?"

"You said you wanted to test your true potential. How would fighting someone who's too tired to move accomplish that?" Myotismon stared at the boy for a few seconds.

"Very well." Myotismon turned around and began to walk to the opposite end of the cave. He stopped walking for a second and turned his head, however. "Three hours. Eight o'clock. Take that time to regain your strength, and after that I will defeat you and take back my servant." He continued walking at sat down near a tunnel at the opposite end of the cavern.

"You okay to do this Agumon? Tai looked to his partner.

"Yeah, I'm good." Agumon nodded as he sat down.

"Tai are you crazy?" Rika hissed from the wall, where she and Eric were still holding the struggling Matt against the wall. "You can't have Agumon face Myotismon! He won't stand a chance!"

"I can fight him once I get all my strength back." Agumon protested. "Besides, it's better than him attacking and killing us all right now."

"We shouldn't be arguing." Izzy whispered.

"Thanks Izzy." Tai sighed.

"Let me finish. We should be using this time to escape."

"Izzy-"

"No Tai. We need to get out of here. We can't take the chance that he'll just get impatient and try to kill us before the three hours are up."

"I need to do this Izzy."

"What about Agumon?"

"I need to do this too." Agumon agreed.

"But why? This is the perfect time to get out of here and-"

"I need the dreams to stop." Tai stated coldly.

"What... dreams?"

"The ones that have been plaguing my head ever since Devimon took over me and Agumon."

"Tai." Eric addressed the boy.

"What?" He snapped.

"I understand why you have to do this, but you can't."

"And why is that?"

"Because the only reason Myotismon wants to fight you-"

"Is because he wants to reach his full potential, I know."

"Do you know what his full potential is Tai?"

"What do you mean?"

"He wants to reach Mega."

"Mega? How do you know?"

"He told me."

"Maybe he was lying Eric."

"Why would he lie about something like that Tai?" Izzy intervened.

"Because he wants to mess with us- get into our heads and trick us into going down a false path. Like those numbers."

"He doesn't want to get into our heads Tai, he wants to get into yours." Said Rika. "He's scared of you."

"Exactly, which is why I'm the best one to fight him."

"No Tai, that's why you can't fight him." Izzy stated.

"And why is that?"

"If he defeats you, then we won't stand a chance."

"He won't defeat me."

"But what if he does?"

"He won't."

"Tai, there's something I didn't get a chance to tell you back in the other cavern." Eric interjected.

"What?"

"When I was talking to Myotismon, he said he was working for somebody else."

"Somebody else?"

"Yeah, Myotismon has a boss." Tai stared in contemplation for a few seconds.

"Piedmon." He finally said.

"Who?" The other five children stated simultaneously, joined by Tentomon and Omekamon.

"Someone I saw in one of my dreams. The ones that Devimon placed in my head."

"Right. He has a boss." Rika stated, "Which is why you can't fight him. If you make Myotismon digivolve to Mega, then we'll have to deal with him and this Piedmon guy who's even stronger."

"That's why I have to." Tai emphasized. "There's another enemy out there just waiting to do something to us, and if I can defeat Myotismon then there'll be one lest enemy that we have to deal with."

"But if you don't defeat him-"

"I know."

"Listen Tai, let's just get out of here and get stronger." Kari yanked on her brother's arm. "You can fight Myotismon when we're better prepared."

"No, I have to fight him. You guys go."

"What? We aren't going to leave you here Tai!" Rika objected.

"It would be better if you did. That way you can regain your strength and come back to help me if you need to."

"If any of you leave," Myotismon suddenly yelled from the other side of the cave, "You will be breaking the agreement, and I will be forced to kill you all." The five children and four conscious digimon stood quietly for a few seconds. During that time Matt had stopped struggling, having realized that he could not escape from the two kid's grips.

"Well then," Eric sighed, "It looks like we don't have much of a choice now do we?" The group ended their conversation, and all who were not preoccupied with holding down the prisoner sat down to contemplate during the next few hours.

***

"We need some rope." Eric commented as he stared over at the newly recovered Renamon, who was holding Matt's arms behind his back.

"Good luck finding any." Rika sighed. "It won't matter once Myotismon destroys all of us anyway."

"How optimistic."

"Shove it."

"You're so cheery Rika."

"I'm serious, quit it. Tai's not going to be able to beat Myotismon. What does he think he is doing?"  
"He's just trying to get this over with."

"Get what over with?"

"Being here, in the digital world."

"It was his idea!" She whispered loudly.

"We all went along with him."

"He's just being selfish."

"Wow Rika, you aren't even trying."

"Trying what?"

"To act like your angry."

"I am angry!"

"No you're not. Who told you? Was it Izzy?"

"Told me what?"

"That Tai likes you."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, for starters, you want to be angry at someone so badly that you're just making up reasons to _be _angry."

"Because you like him back, and that's preventing you from being angry at him, and you're not used to that."

"Are you crazy?"

"You always find someone to yell at or scream about, and you want to yell at Tai. But that part of your brain that likes him back isn't letting you, and that's ticking you off even more."

"You have no idea what you're talking about, do you?"

"I'm just making an educated guess is all."

"You're an idiot." She looked over at the boy, who was fiddling with something in his hands. "What are you doing?"

"Making a dagger."

"With what?" He showed the girl two sticks in his hands. "You really think you're going to make a weapon with those two twigs?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"Ugh."

"Rika."

"What?"

"Tai just wants to get his sister back home, where it's safe. Why don't you cut him some slack?" Rika rolled her eyes, then stomped away. When she had put some distance between her and the boy she was talking to, she turned her head towards Tai, who was conversing with Agumon as the two sat cross legged on the ground.

"Now are you sure that you're ready to do this?" Tai whispered to his partner, so that the hearing gifted Myotismon across the cavern didn't eavesdrop on him.

"Of course." Agumon replied in his regular voice, to the surprise of Tai.

"I just mean that you might not be strong enough to face him, and I kind of rushed you into this." Tai kept his voice lowered, an indication for the dinosaur to lower his voice.

"Don't back out on me now. You said you needed to do this, and so do I. Myotismon has terrorized my world for two years now, and I want him stopped, and if that means I have to put my life on the line to do that, then so be it."

"Okay, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't forcing you to do something you didn't want to do."

"Well I want to."

"Good."

"Good." Tai and Agumon nodded at each other for a few minutes, each at a loss for words. The two then gripped their arms around each other and squeezed tightly.

"Good luck buddy."

"Thanks Tai."

"Hey Tai?" Rika found herself behind the two boy's who were a little startled by her presence.

"What is it Rika?" Tai asked.

"I need to talk to you about something."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well-"

"Times up!" Myotismon cheered from the other end of the cave as he stood up. "It's time to begin our battle, Taichi Kamiya." He smiled, then began to walk slowly towards them.

"Okay, here we go Agumon." Tai and his partner stood up, matching the vampire's gaze. "Hey Rika, we'll talk after I beat him back to the hell he came from, okay?" He smiled.

"Right." She nodded, then watched the two walk off into the middle of the cavern. "Good luck."

"You remember the plan?" Eric whispered to T.K. and Izzy, who were observing the battle in a group with their digimon.

"Yeah, if things get too hairy for MetalGreymon, we send in Rapidmon, MagnaAngemon, and MegaKabuterimon to stall him until we can get Tai and MetalGreymon out of there." Izzy replied.

"I don't see how that's much of a plan." T.K. groaned.

"Yeah, well it's the best we've got." Eric replied. "Just keep your guard up." The three boys and their partners grouped together and sat down near the mouth of one of the tunnels, where Rika, Kari, Salamon, and the prisoner holding Renamon were all waiting.

"Think he can do this?" Kari muttered.

"We have to hope so." Replied Rika.

"Are you ready Tai?" Myotismon smiled.

"As ready as I'll ever be." He replied.

"How about you Agumon? Seeing as how you are the one I will actually be fighting, I want to make sure that you are up for the challenge."

"I'm more prepared then you'll ever know." Agumon growled.

"Then let's get started, shall we?" Myotismon jumped back a few feet, then waited for Agumon to prepare for the battle.

"Tai, get back a few dozen feet, then digivolve me." Agumon commanded.

"Right." Tai ran off to the left until he was well clear of the two digimon.

"Hurry up!" Myotismon commanded, getting impatient.

"Okay, here we go." Tai pressed a button on his digivice, activating a bright white light that streamed out towards Agumon. Then, an orange light burst from the crest around his neck and swirled into the white light, the two combining to form a light orange beam that consumed Agumon and increased his size exponentially. A few seconds later, MetalGreymon, the dinosaur with decayed wings, a metal arm and metal face plate, stood against his vampire opponent.

"This is where the fun begins." Myotismon smiled.

"Giga Blaster!" MetalGreymon jumped right into the battle, firing two fish missiles at the vampire. He then ran forward, expecting that his attack might be deflected. He was correct.

"Grisly Wing!" Myotismon swept his cape forward, summoning thousands of bats from an unknown source that covered the missiles. They dispersed a second later, the missiles vanished. MetalGreymon rushed through the location where the missiles had disappeared and pounced towards Myotismon, who leaped up to defend.

"Crimson Lighting!"

"Nova Blast!" Attacks clashed into the air, creating an enormous pillar of smoke in which Myotismon and MetalGreymon clashed. MetalGreymon drove his large claws into Myotismon, who deflected with ease, knocking MetalGreymon's arms away as if there was no strength behind them. Myotismon then gripped one of the monster's claws and swung himself upward to land on MetalGreymon's head. He then grabbed the metal horn embedded in the dragon's face plate and pulled upward, lifting the giant monster into the air. He then swung the monster over his shoulder and slammed him into the earth.

"Grisly Wing!" Myotismon threw his cape upwards and sent a wave of alpha bats swarming over MetalGreymon. The dramon reacted as fast as possible, throwing his body upwards and puffing out his chest to defend.

"Giga Blaster!" As the missiles and the alpha bats collided with each other, MetalGreymon flapped his heavy wings quickly, lifting his body over the brawl. "Nova Blast!" He then fired a steaming flare at Myotismon, who was unprepared and had to sweep his cape back over his body to avoid harm.

"Touch of Evil!" Myotismon immediately shot his extending dark arm out from under the shadows and attempted to wrap his claws around MetalGreymon's arm. He then sent a dark shock wave through his bone, the static rippling through the dramon's arm. The conductive appendage prevented the wave from entering MetalGreymon's body though, and the monster was then ready to counter attack.

"Mega Claw!" The same arm that Myotismon had tried to electrocute MetalGreymon with was now being crushed from the weight of MetalGreymon's alloy palm. It sliced across the air, forcing Myotismon's appendage back into the abyss under the vampire's cape.

"Grisly Wing!" Myotismon immediately retaliated and tossed his alpha bats towards MetalGreymon.

"Nova Blast!" MetalGreymon leaped over his flare as it collided with the alpha bats, and began another attack, until he was interrupted.

"Crimson Lighting!" Myotismon was faster than MetalGreymon, creating a shock wave of red energy that slammed into MetalGreymon's chest, shoving the monster through the air and crushing him into the earth. Myotismon then leaped from his hovering place in the air and drove his heels into MetalGreymon's gut, making the digimon gag horribly.

"No, he's losing." Tai murmured.

"Okay Izzy, get ready." Eric whispered, grabbing his digivice. In the meantime MetalGreymon had thrown Myotismon off of him, and was breathing heavily.

"Is this the best you can do?" Myotismon yelled. "I said I wanted to reach my full potential, not have target practice! Crimson Lighting!" MetalGreymon leaped out of the way, narrowly avoiding destruction.

"Tai!" MetalGreymon called to his partner as he dodged a multitude of punches from his undead opponent. "I can't win like this Tai!"

"I know, you need to find some way to get out of there!" His spiky haired partner responded.

"Leave?" Myotismon drove a kick into MetalGreymon's head. "You'll leave after I've beaten the living hell out of you!" He thrust another punch towards the mechanical ultimate, who rolled over and leaped away.

"I know what to do!" The dramon called to his partner.

"What?" Tai inquired.

"I need to slide evolve to SkullGreymon!"

"What? No!"

"Tai, I have to!"

"You'll lose control!"

"I won't! As long as you believe in me I know I can keep control!"

"Are you sure?"

"Dead sure!" His words were ironic, as Myotismon sent another Crimson Lighting rocketing towards the monster, who narrowly dodged.

"Become SkullGreymon, see if I care." Myotismon smashed his foot into MetalGreymon's chin, knocking him backwards. "I'll defeat you regardless!"

"Go for it MetalGreymon!" Tai cheered worriedly.

"Thanks Tai!" MetalGreymon blocked another punch from Myotismon with his face plate, then jumped a few dozen yards away. Myotismon then flew towards him, when a dark light extended from Tai's crest and entered MetalGreymon's chest.

"**Slide Evolution!" **The darkness exploded, knocking Myotismon back a few feet. "**SkullGreymon!"**

"He's back." Tai sighed.


	32. The Ascension

I took my time with this chapter so it shouldn't be too rushed, but tell me if its not... great. Sorry to Akira Starfrost for letting my writing style falter, but as I stated in my profile I'm not very good at this, essays my only experience.

**Chapter Thirty Two: The Ascension, Part Four**

A tall digimon, covered lightly in darkness, scratched the back of his neck as he contemplated his next move. The metal covered digimon then shook his many wings to stretch his muscles, drumming his fingers against the board in front of him. He looked up at his opponent, although the other monster did not realize it due to the metal helmet with a light star embedded on the front covering Seraphimon's face. He moved his hand over the board in front of him and gripped a small statue resting in a black shaded square.

"Queen to f6." He tapped a clock at the board's side.

"Are you mad?" DoruGoramon flinched at the move, his curved silver and purple armor sliding across each other as he backed away. "That's a fools errand."

"You doubt me Doro?" Seraphimon sighed. "You think that I can't even make a simple move on a chess board correctly? Just like you thought on the battlefield."

"Don't Seraphim!" Doro growled, "I've already apologized for that, what more do you want?"

"I'm just giving you a hard time Doro, calm yourself." Seraphim smiled. "It's a serious question, however. Why do you oppose my move?"

"It makes no sense sir." Doro waved his arm over the chess board. "There is no benefit to sacrificing your queen. My king is protected from all directions, and I cannot see any future path that would give you victory."

"Why don't you just play your move and see what I do next?"

"Fine then." Doro grabbed his bishop with his index and middle fingers and slid it across the board, placing it on the same square as Seraphim's queen. He picked up the queen and dropped it in a small wooden box near the clock. "Yours." Seraphim nodded and reached for the board and was about to make his move, when a door in the dark room behind Doro suddenly opened, and a tall, orange digimon covered in silver and yellow armor stepped in.

"What is it Waro?" Seraphim spoke as Doro turned his head to see the visitor.

"We have news from the war front:" Said Waro, "A team of our Ninjamon infiltrated the enemy camp and took out their communications and radar equipment."

"That's great," Seraphim gave a relieved smile, "Return the Ninjamon to their homes and give them compensation for a year's work."

"I cannot sir." Waro sighed.

"And why is that?"

"During their return to base, they were ambushed. Most of them were killed, and the only survivor is in critical condition. He cannot be moved."

"Damn." Seraphim gripped the temple of his head (or what he could due to his helmet) and let out a deep sigh. "How many more men are we going to lose before Myotismon surrenders."

"If we could just find the bastard, we could destroy him ourselves and end this war." Doro clenched his fist, restraining himself so he did not smash his hand into the chess board in front of him.

"If only." Agreed Waro.

"Waro," Seraphim rose his head to match eyes with his companion, "Provide a lifetime compensation for the families of the deceased, and make sure that wounded Ninjamon makes a full recovery, whatever it takes, and he and his family compensated for as long as they need."

"That will be expensive sir, especially with the costs of the war."

"Just do it."

"Of course, I'll have Councilwomen Saka get right on it." Waro slipped out of the room and closed the door behind him, leaving Doro and Seraphim alone in the dark, quiet room.

"What are we going to do Seraphim?" Doro dropped his head into his palm. "We can't carry on this war much longer."

"I know." Seraphim replied. He then stood up. "Tomorrow, I'm going to begin a search for Myotismon: alone."

"What? But sir-"

"No Doro, I have to do this." Seraphim began to walk towards the door. "It is my responsibility. As leader of the Royal Knights, I have to ensure this world's safety. And I cannot do that with Myotismon destroying our people!" Seraphim held back a strike with his fist against the wall.

"But alone? You should take the rest of us with you."

"No." Seraphim shook his head. "It will be easier for me to search on my own, whatever easier means. The rest of the Knights will stay here and continue the war effort. Doro, you are in charge until I get back."

"Wouldn't you rather have Waro do that? He's a much better leader than I could ever be."

"Waro is a great leader, and an even greater friend. But he cannot control his temper as well as I'd like him to. Doro, you are the only one who can keep our peoples' spirits up while I am gone."

"Thank you Seraphim." Seraphim began to walk towards the door.

"Oh, and Doro."

"Yes?"

"Don't tell anyone except the rest of the Knights that I will be leaving. We wouldn't want to cause a panic."

"Of course." Seraphim opened the door in the dark room and departed, leaving Doro alone with the chess board. Doro stood up, but not before glancing at the game in front of him. "What?" He looked at his defensless king, trapped in a checkmate. "How did he do that?"

**Years Later**

Myotismon slammed his opponent into a wall, growling in fury as he began to smash his fists into the skeletal dragon's head. "Come on! You slide evolved so that you would have the strength to face me! But you are still just as weak as when you were MetalGreymon, except now you don't have a consciousness so you are even stupider than you used to be!" Myotismon sent an uppercut into SkullGreymon's jaw, who roared in painful objection.

"No, it didn't work." Tai drove his fist into the stony tunnel, bashing his weak flesh against the wall again and again until he could no longer withstand the pain. "SkullGreymon's just as helpless as he was before, and now he can't even think for himself!"

"Tai!" Rika screamed from across the cavern. The boy looked back to the group of children and digimon.

"What!?" He cried back.

"Your courage is the only thing giving SkullGreymon strength! If you give up on him then he has no hope of surviving this battle!"\

"Yeah... I- I know." Tai muttered. He then turned away from the digidestined and returned his gaze to SkullGreymon, who was not withstanding the brutal attack from Myotismon. "Skull-SkullGreymon! Don't give up! I'm here for you!" He struggled to keep his confidence.

"It doesn't matter Tai!" Myotismon roared as he continued to pound his fists into SkullGreymon's head. "Your partner obviously isn't the digimon I thought he was! He can't help me ascend! Neither of you are any use to me, so die!" Myotismon created an open fist, his claws pointing away from his palm. He then struck down upon SkullGreymon's head attempting to finish what he started. SkullGreymon suddenly raised his head and opened his mouth.

"Curse Breath!" SkullGreymon spewed a purple cloud from his jaw and regurgitated it onto Myotismon. The vampire coughed loudly, the toxic mist flowing into his body. Myotismon threw himself as far as he could away from the skeleton, attempting to cough the mist within his chest out of him.

"It looks like I'm not as weak as you thought Myotismon." The undead dragon dragged himself out of the rock wall, popping a few dislocated bones back into place as he did so.

"How did you?" Myotismon coughed violently on the ground. "Tai couldn't have- Egh! Egh!- helped you that much."

"You really think I'm that stupid don't you? While you were pummeling me, I was regaining my consciousness. I had to flush out that little bit of you that was still controlling me before I could fight back. Tai was a big help though."

"He's okay." Tai sighed. "Great work SkullGreymon!" He cried in happiness.

"Don't celebrate just yet..." Myotismon pulled himself off of the ground and cleared his throat one more time, freeing his chest from the toxic smoke that had incapacitated him just moments earlier. "Just because your friend can control himself, it doesn't mean he will stand a chance against-"

"Dark Shot!" An extremely large fish missile fired from SkullGreymon's back and rocketed towards Myotismon, who didn't have time to defend. The archfiend had to resort to pushing to the left, avoiding the full impact of the missile but still getting caught in the fire. Myotismon was pulled up into the air as SkullGreymon's missile rose upwards, carrying the monster with it. The projectile erupted into the ceiling of the cave seconds later, creating an earth shaking shock wave that pumped through the large chamber violently. Fortunately the roof held together. Unfortunately Myotismon survived the blast, shrouding himself in his cape and gliding back down to the ground.

"That was sneaky." Myotismon smiled as his cape caught the air under him and sent him gently down to the earth. He landed softly, throwing his shroud back over his shoulders. "I like it."

"Don't start." SkullGreymon walked his heavy body over to the vampire, who stood fearless against him. "Curse Breath!" SkullGreymon skipped over the repartee and immediately returned to the battle. Myotismon leaped away, narrowly avoiding another disruption from the fumes. He skipped backwards, then took aim at SkullGreymon.

"Crimson Lightning!" A red lightning bolt sizzled through the air towards SkullGreymon. The dragon jumped to the side to avoid the move, crashing into the ground and vibrating the earth. Myotismon predicted this though. "Grisly Wing!" Thousands of alpha bats swarmed towards SkullGreymon, who had little time to retaliate.

"Curse Breath!" darkness plumed from SkullGreymon's throat, consuming the bats seconds before they covered the bone dragon. The ultimate then fled from behind the chiropterian massacre and leaped into view of Myotismon. "Dark Shot!" A missile rocketed from the monster's back, and it flew once again towards the vampire.

"Grisly Wing!" Myotismon fired another batch of winged mammals at the projectile. The two attacks consumed each other. Myotismon scoffed at the failed move, believing the missile to be SkullGreymon's primary goal. SkullGreymon then bounded over the collisions of alpha bats, gas, and missiles and slammed in front of Myotismon, shocking him. SkullGreymon balled up a quick fist and plowed it into Myotismon's gut. The vampire gagged in pain and collapsed onto the floor, skidding across the dirty rock into a pile of limb and flesh a few dozen feet away from SkullGreymon.

"He- he did it." Izzy stated in disbelief.

"Of course he did it, he's defeated him before." Eric smiled.

"Way to go Tai and Agumon!" Kari and Salamon cheered simultaneously.

"Don't celebrate yet, he's not finished." Tai stated emotionlessly.

***

Two figures stood at the edge of a tunnel extending from the wall of the main cavern, a few dozen feet off the ground. They overlooked SkullGreymon stomping towards the unconscious Myotismon, ready to make the kill.

"So what are you thinking? Should we help him?" The digimon asked.

"I don't see any reason why we should." Replied the human.

"Well, he kind of ordered us to do something, and we just completely blew him off."

"And? Why should we give him the strength to defeat us?"

"He won't be able to defeat me. I'm too strong for him."

"Can you be so sure?"

"You've seen what I can do. Why do you doubt me?"

"Very well then. I'll help him out." The boy pressed a button on his digivice, activating a dark, almost invisible beam of energy slowly extending towards the crippled archfiend on the ground.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, VenomMyotismon."

***

"This time Myotismon," SkullGreymon groaned, "When I kill you- don't come back." He raised his hand, his claws together in a flat plane, each tip glistening in the torchlight and ready to sever the fainted monster in half. He rose his arm, then slammed it downwards, aiming at Myotismon's stomach. Seconds before impact, Myotismon suddenly twisted upward and grabbed one of SkullGreymon's claws, holding him back.

"Well well," Myotismon smiled, "It looks like you have helped me reach my full potential after all." He threw SkullGreymon's arm into the monster's gut and knocked him onto his back. "I thank you." A dark aura then consumed Myotismon, and he began to grow exponentially.

"What?" Tai quivered in fear, watching the worst possible path of the battle occur.

"Oh no." Izzy groaned as Myotismon began to take a new, demonic form. Once the darkness cleared, a ten story demon, his bottom half muscular and covered in black fur, and his upper half lanky and covered in red armor, stood tall. He had large, decayed red wings, and his head was the same as before, but two bold horns ejected from his head now.

"Oh dear God." Eric gasped. He contemplated for a few seconds before saying his next thought. "I really shouldn't have antagonized him about the vampire thing."

"What are you?" SkullGreymon groaned as he pulled himself off of the ground.

"I..." Myotismon's mega form smiled, "Am VenomMyotismon: king of the undead, and ruler of my enemies." VenomMyotismon could not contain the joy that was bursting within him. "But you can call me Val. I realize VenomMyotismon is a mouthful for anyone, even if they're going to die very soon." VenomMyotismon moved his arm forward, ready to test his new powers.

"Get away from me." SkullGreymon growled, backing away from the behemoth.

"What's the matter SkullGreymon? Are you sad now that I have the advantage once again? Were you looking forward to pummeling me like I did you?"

"Dammit." SkullGreymon breathed heavily, backing away from the crazed demon.

"It's time to take my revenge SkullGreymon. If you'll recall, you have killed me twice. Well, with help from your friends of course. Still, I'm not too happy about it. Venom Infusion!" Rainbow beams fired from slanted red spots on his torso.

"Dark Shot!" SkullGreymon fired back, leaping away after his missile launched at VenomMyotismon, or Val. The rainbow beams of the mega level digimon were to powerful, however, and cleaved through the projectile easily. It exploded with ferocity but never damaged the archfiend. "This isn't going to be easy."

"This isn't going to be anything! Touch of Evil!" Val's arm snapped forward, crushing SkullGreymon's chest and bashing him against a wall. SkullGreymon immediately degenerated to his rookie form.

"No!" Tai began to sprint towards his wounded partner.

"Tai, don't do it!" Kari objected.

"Tentomon, it's time for some action." Eric growled to his partner, who immediately leaped from the earth and began flying straight towards the mega.

"Can you handle him Terriermon?" Izzy questioned the bunny-dog on his shoulder.

"No, but I'm going to have to." He leaped off of Izzy's shoulder and puffed out his ears, allowing himself to float after Tentomon.

"Go help them Patamon." T.K. said to his partner.

"Okay." Nodded the angel-bird.

**"Tentomon, warp digivolve to... MegaKabuterimon!"**

**"Terriermon, warp digivolve to... Rapidmon!"**

**"Patamon, warp digivolve to... MagnaAngemon."**

The three ultimates immediately engaged Val.

"Miracle Missile!"

"Horn Buster!"

"Excalibur!" The three digimon struck Val in the back, who reacted lightly to the strikes.

"Ow." Val said emotionlessly. He then twisted around and knocked the three much smaller digimon onto the ground with one swipe of his arm.

"Agumon!" Tai shuffled through the debris from SkullGreymon and Myotismon's battle, running as fast as he could past VenomMyotismon towards his unconscious rookie partner. "Agumon, I'm here!" He jumped over another pile of rocks, landing close to the dinosaur. He then lifted the monster' in his arms and comforted him. "You're going to be okay buddy. It's going to be okay."

"Tai?" Agumon said weakly.

"It's okay Agumon, I'll get you out of here." Tai stood up, lifting the heavy digimon off of the ground with difficulty. "Let's get you back to the others." He began to walk as fast as he could towards Rika, Kari, and the rest of the digidestined, being careful to avoid the battle between Val and the three ultimates.

"Tai..." Agumon murmured tiredly.

"What's wrong Agumon?" Tai gasped, the weight of the raptor difficult to bear.

"I... almost had him Tai. I'm sorry..."

"It's okay Agumon, you did good. You were only off by a few seconds. No one can blame you for that."

"It wasn't him..."

"What?"

"Myotismon didn't digivolve by himself. There was a small data stream flowing into him. He had help digivolving... to mega."

"Who?" Tai had to pick up the pace, as the conversation was distracting him from fleeing the battle. "Who helped him?"

"I don't know, but I know... it came from up there." Agumon weakly lifted his arm and pointed at a tunnel in the side of the wall. Tai looked up at the passageway and saw only darkness.

"We'll figure it out later Agumon, right now let's get you to safety."

"Okay..."

"Electro- Ayah!" In the middle of an attack MegaKabuterimon was knocked back onto the ground by Val, who's fists were more than enough to contend with the powerful attacks of the ultimate digimon.

"Gate of-ugh!" VenomMyotismon slammed his fist into MagnaAngemon's gut, who was then knocked into Rapidmon. Both digimon fell to the ground just as easily as before.

"You are nothing compared to me." Val smiled. "Do you understand? You are nothing! I can destroy you in one move if I want to." Val reached his arm down and latched it around Rapidmon. "Now what's to stop me from doing just that?"

"Aussterben!" A super charged energy beam slammed into Val's back. He flinched slightly but was otherwise unharmed, then turned around to see his enemy.

"You?" Val stared down at his opponent. The armor clad digimon stared back at him with equal ferocity.

"Let's go." MegaKabuterimon grabbed both MagnaAngemon and Rapidmon and flew as far as he could away from VenomMyotismon, arriving close to the mouth of the cave where Kari, Rika, and the others were waiting. Tai had arrived as well. Upon arrival, the three digimon degenerated quickly.

"I'm surprised to see you here," Val laughed at the royal digimon, "I thought you didn't want to help the children this time."

"The last time I interfered," The armored monster kept his sword held in front of him, "You corrupted the hearts of seven innocent children."

"You were the one that brought them here, don't blame your mistakes on me. I merely convinced them to choose the side in a war that you didn't want them to be on."

"Oh my God," Eric gasped as he watched the conversation between the two megas, while lifting the tired Tentomon onto his back. "That's Leopardmon."

"Who?" Asked Izzy.

"One of the Royal Knights."

"What Royal Knights?" Rika snapped.

"I thought Babamon said they had all died." Said T.K.

"Apparently she was mistaken." Replied Tai. "It looks like we might be a little lucky in this fight after all."

"Not really." Eric said.

"What do you mean?"

"Myotismon- no, Val- told me that Leopardmon lost all his power when the dark beacon appeared, and so he had to get help from another world in order to defeat Devimon."

"Help from who?" Izzy inquired. Eric gave him a tired look. "Oh."

"So he's the one that brought us here?" Asked Tai.

"You got it." Replied Eric.

"You know that you cannot defeat me, right?" Val laughed at Leopardmon.

"Yes, I know." Leopardmon held his sword forward, ready to strike at the vampire-demon.

"It's ironic really, considering how much stronger than me you should be."

"Do you have a point, _Val_? Can't you just go by your true name-"

"Don't test me Leopardmon!" Val raised his clawed arm at Leopardmon, who scoffed at him.

"You believe you are all powerful, because you ascended to mega? You are petty compared to the higher beings of this world."

"I am a higher being of this world!"

"Not anymore."

"He wants us to run." Murmured Tai.

"What?" Asked Izzy.

"He knows he can't defeat Val by himself, so he's stalling him so we can escape."

"How do you know?"

"Tai's right, we better go." Kari began to back away.

"Come on." Hakase wrapped his palms around Rika and Izzy's shoulders.

"Tai's right, we need to move now, before Val discovers what Leopardmon's doing." Renamon clasped her hand over Matt's mouth so he could not warn his master, then began to back into the cave. The rest of the digidestined followed slowly, being sure not to warn Val of their plan with a loud exodus.

"Do you really want to fight me Leopardmon? You will not win, and it is likely that you will die when facing me. After all, you only have the strength of a champion."

"I have regained my ultimate strength _Val_. I think my strength combined with my skills will be enough to deal with you long enough."

"What is your purpose? Why would you try to fight me when you know you can't-" Val suddenly turned his head around, spotting the empty tunnel where the digidestined once stood. "No!" VenomMyotismon fully twisted around and began a sprint for the tunnel.

"Aussterben!" Leopardmon attacked the mega monster from behind, sending a sizzling energy blade into his back. VenomMyotismon twisted around and retaliated.

"Crimson Lightning!"

"Aussterben!" Two similar attacks collided and created a huge pillar of smoke closer to Leopardmon than VenomMyotismon.

"I will kill you for tricking me like this Leopardmon. You will suffer the consequences of your actions!"

"Aussterben!" Leopardmon immediately attacked again. Val blocked with his arm, the beam doing little damage to VenomMyotismon.

"Mark my words Leopardmon, you will pay."


	33. The True Ascension

Here it is, my thirty-third chapter, and the halfway mark for Piedmon's Absolution. I apologize: it wasn't supposed to be this long. Originally I had planned for it to be about 50 or so chapters, but because of the new level I created I had to extend the time, and I didn't want digimon reaching new evolutions every other chapter, so I had to double the amount of chapters I had originally created for the ultimate and mega arcs. I hope that makes sense. Enjoy, and try to review. You too flamers, feel free to mock me.

**Chapter Thirty Three: The Ascension, Part Five- The True Ascension**

"We're far enough away, we should stop here." Hakase ran a few feet forward into a small alcove in the tunnel. "We can rest here for now." The rest of the digidestined (and Omekamon) followed, taking places within the alcove (and when it was filled the surrounding walls) to rest.

"So the Royal Knights are alive, huh?" Murmured Omekamon.

"Just Leopardmon, at least according to Val." Replied Eric.

"Who are the Royal Knights?" Izzy asked again.

"They were the defenders of this world, until the dark beacon turned all digimon back into eggs. They've been gone ever since." Renamon answered in place of the destined who had been in Shichiri village for the past two weeks.

"If Leopardmon brought us here, and he is one of the Royal Knights, then why hasn't he helped us at all?" Rika asked depressingly.

"Because of what happened to them." Renamon placed Matt in the very back of the alcove, so that he was guarded by the rest of the digidestined. She then sat down next to Rika. Matt sat cross legged in silence, angry about his current predicament. "Apparently, he tried to help the first digidestined defeat Devimon, and it didn't work out too well."

"So he just left us on our own." Eric sighed angrily.

"But it seems like he helped us when it really counted." Said Izzy. "He got us out of that mess when we first got here and he gave us a chance to escape back there with VenomMyotismon."

"You would think he would have been there for Joe." Kari murmured.

"I guess he had to let things play out." Replied Tai.

"What's wrong with you Matt?" Hakase had completely ignored the group's conversation, and had stood up to face the evil digidestined sitting in the back of the alcove.

"What do you mean?" Matt growled.

"Be nice to him Hakase, he's my brother." T.K. opposed lightly.

"I will Takeru, don't worry. I just want to take a look at his arm." Hakase grabbed the evil digidestined's wounded limb. Matt jerked away for a second, but decided he didn't have much of a choice, so surrendered himself to the scientist. "What happened?"

"You." He replied coldly.

"What?"

"When WereGarurumon was fighting Takeru's partner, this happened."

"What?" T.K. whimpered, looking down at his angel-bird partner.

"I don't remember doing anything T.K." Patamon replied innocently. Hakase then slowly cut the bandages off of Matt's arm, taking a look at the wound. He was surprised.

"How did you get wounded Matt?" Hakase addressed the boy.

"I told you, fighting him." He pointed at his brother.

"No, I what physically happened to you that made this wound happen?" Matt sat klsilent for a few seconds, but then cooperated.

"After I threw T.K. off of the mountain," The other destined were concerned by how calmly Matt said this, and shocked that it happened in the first place, "The data stream that digivolved his partner hit me in the gut, and then this happened."

"That's perfect."

"What?" Matt jerked away. "I thought you said you were going to fix my arm, but you're happy I got hurt?"

"Hey! No sudden moves." Renamon ordered. The boy settled down.

"I am going to help you Matt," Hakase gently placed his claw on the wound. Matt winced, but cooperated. "I'm going to get rid of something that should have never been in you in the first place."

"What?" Hakase then plunged his claw into the wound only visible by him and twisted it around so that he could pull outwards. "Ayah!" Matt screamed as Hakase performed the procedure.

"Hakase, what are you doing? Stop hurting him!" Takeru ordered the intelligent rookie.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing!" Hakase pulled outwards, and the group heard something snap. Upon the snap Tsunomon, the sleeping in-training monster who was resting next to his partner, screamed, flew up into the air, and struck at the wall, knocking himself out. Matt then collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

"What the hell was that?" Eric exclaimed.

"What did you do to my brother Hakase!" T.K. launched himself off of the ground and tried to pounce on the dinosaur, but Rika and Tai grabbed the young boy before he could connect.

"T.K. calm down!" Tai pulled the boy back with the girl's help, both of them struggling to keep the infuriated boy down.

"T.K. I didn't do anything to him. I helped him." Hakase tried to explain.

"By making his arm even worse?" T.K. growled.

"Would you look?" Hakase lifted the unconscious boy's arm and showed it to the group, who were as surprised as Hakase when he had first layed eyes on it. Besides the scrape from Hakase's arm (which was gruesome in it's own right) there appeared to be nothing wrong with the boy's limb. The only abnormality appeared to be a thin, dark wire pressed outwards under Matt's skin, which had been severed when Hakase performed the incision.

"Is that what I think it is?" Eric asked hopefully.

"Uh-huh." Hakase nodded.

"What is it?" T.K. growled.

"It's the dark needle that's in your brother, and I just cut it in half."

"What..." A confused face replaced the anger that had once dominated the boy.

"Hakase, I thought you said you couldn't physically remove the dark needle from Joe because it was too deep in his body?" Tai asked the monster, confused.

"Yeah, you said it was embedded in the nervous system making it inoperable." Added Eric.

"That's where the dark needle is supposed to be. But when your digivolution energy hit Matt, it must have damaged the dark needle and forced it out of it's hiding place."

"Are... you sure?" T.K. muttered.

"I am T.K." Hakase nodded with pride.

"But the dark needles grow, don't they?" Tentomon tapped his partners belly with his massive claw, making the boy flinch. "Wouldn't breaking one part of it not do very much?"

"They do grow so they can take over the entire body, but the entire thing is basically a circuit that pumps dark energy throughout the body. If you break one part of the circuit, then the rest of the dark needle is useless."

"So, he's okay?" T.K. asked hopefully.

"He should be in a while. The dark energy from Devimon is still flowing through him, continuing to distort his mind, but soon the incision I did should take effect, and the energy will stop flowing. He will be fine once the energy flow dies out."

"What happened to Tsunomon?" Terriermon pulled the tiny in-training's horn out from the wall, freeing the unconscious digimon from his semi-levitating position. "Why did he just slam his head against the wall?"

"The dark needle that is in Matt infects his partner too, so when I cut the needle I damaged the dark energy flowing to Tsunomon and it shocked him."

"He should be okay too though right?" He placed the ball spike on the ground to rest.

"Even sooner than Matt. Since Matt's not broadcasting a signal to Tsunomon anymore, once he wakes up he should be purified immediately."

"Are you sure it will work?" Izzy asked solemnly.

"Say what?"

"Are you sure that Matt won't be corrupted when he wakes up? Even if he seems right, he could just be faking."

"You're a real downer aren't you Izzy?"

"No he's right," T.K. interrupted surprisingly, "You should make sure my brother's okay before we trust him. Can you take the rest of the dark needle out of him?"

"No, I can't. It's embedded in his nervous system, and if I try to pull it out, even from here," Hakase pointed at the wound, "It would do irrefutable damage to his body."

"Oh."

"But now that it's been severed, the needle will eventually start to die out. It will rot away and be absorbed into the rest of his body, and he'll dispose of it through perspiration and other measures."

"Oh!."

"So what do we do now?" Asked Rika.

"We wait for him to wake up, and then we'll see if he's really been purified." Said Eric. "If Hakase's correct, then the tip there he cut the dark needle will begin to decompose first, probably pretty soon." As he said this, Hakase began to reapply the bandage on Matt's arm, making sure to leave the two separate points of the dark needle pointing out from under the bandage.

***

Val cracked his enormous knuckles in triumph. He looked down at his defeated enemy, the wounded Leopardmon, who breathed a raspy breath as he struggled to get up.

"Don't bother." Val instructed. "You have lost, that is the simple truth." He raised his foot, letting it hang over the defeated digimon's body. "Let yourself die with some dignity."

"No..." Leopardmon stated weakly. "You will lose."

"Ha ha- how can you possibly expect to defeat me in this state? If I relax my leg muscle you will die, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

"I won't defeat you... the digidestined will."

"The digidestined can barely even survive one of my punches, how do you expect them to destroy me?"

"They... will. They are stronger than you think... and they are growing."

"Growing? In size? What does that matter?"

"They are growing in... number."

"Oh, that's rich. You think that Agumon Hakase and that Omekamon will be enough to stop me? You are a fool."

"No, but Matt will."

"Excuse me?"

"I can feel it. Your hold over the digidestined of friendship has been broken. He is now your enemy."

"You better think carefully about what you say next!" Val placed his foot down next to his other limb and then projected his long arm towards the weakened monster. He slammed his palm into the beast, wrapping his sharp claws around his torso and lifting the battered digimon up into the air. "I don't find it humorous that you say one of my servants has been turned, and I especially don't like that you say it is Ishida."

"Then it's a good thing I'm not trying to be funny."

"You lie! My hold can never be broken! Especially against the Ishida boy, I made sure the dark needle placed in him would trump the powers of all the others!"

"But you forgot to factor in how much his brother wants to save him." Leopardmon smiled weakly.

"If what you say is true," Val tossed the limp digimon back onto the ground, who landed with a thud. "Then it looks like I have some work to do." He walked over his defeated enemy, forgetting to execute him, and stood near one of the walls of the large cavern. He pulled his arm back, preparing to strike, then drove his heavy fist into the rock wall, which shattered upon impact. The side of the mountain collapsed, creating a massive opening that Val lifted himself out of, climbing back into the desert. He then set a course for an area in the north and left the arena behind.

***

"What is that?" Kari exclaimed as Tai pulled the girl into his arms, protecting her from the rock around them that was shaking violently.

"Well," Rika groaned sarcastically, "Val's kind of big, he might have needed to make his own exit out of here."

"So you think he's gone!?"

"Either that or Leopardmon just kicked his butt!" Said Izzy as he kept T.K. protected from the dusty debris.

"This would probably be a good time to leave!" Yelled Eric.

"He's right, we need to get out of here before this place falls down on us!" Tai yelled back. The quaking then subsided. "Or not."

"It still might be unstable, we should get out as soon as possible." Izzy suggested.

"But which way should we go?"Omekamon lifted his metallic body off of the ground. The shaking had knocked him onto his back. "If we head back the way we came, we run the chance of finding out if Val really left or not."

"One of the digimon could drill through the rock and try to find an adjacent tunnel that we could use to get there." Eric suggested.

"I think the tunnels all lead back to the main cavern. We would probably just end up going back there anyway." Hakase replied.

"I can go scout out the area and see if Val really left." Said Renamon.

"That's too dangerous Renamon, you can't go out there by yourself." Rika objected. "What if he's still there?"

"I should be quick enough to escape him if push comes to shove. Besides, if he is there, it's better that only one of us gets caught then all of us." She reasoned.

"That might be our best option Rika," Tai sighed.

"Okay then, hurry up Renamon." Rika urged her partner, who then quickly dashed away through the cavern towards the direction they came from. The group sat patiently for a few minutes, waiting in worry for the digidestined of love's partner to return from her reconnaissance mission. It was only about ten minutes before Renamon came dashing back into the cavern.

"Was he there!?" Hakase exclaimed.

"No, he's gone. There's a big hole in the wall of the cavern that provides an exit for a massive digimon. I jumped onto its ledge and saw a set of huge footprints leading out into the desert.

"What about Leopardmon?" Omekamon asked, concerned.

"There was no trace of him." Renamon replied solemnly. The group gave a few seconds of respectful silence to the fallen hero, then they all began to get up from their previous seated positions.

"We should get out of here now just in case Val decides to come back." Tai began to walk towards the exit to the cavern, the direction where Renamon had dashed upon them a few seconds before.

"What about Matt?" T.K. whimpered.

"I can carry him T.K." Renamon replied, lifting the unconscious boy onto his back.

"I've got Tsunomon." The recently recovered Agumon picked up the in-training as well.

"Let's get back to Shichiri village soon. All of the digimon could use a good rest." The group all nodded, then began to head down the tunnel. They arrived at the main cavern where Myotismon and SkullGreymon had their epic battle about an hour earlier, then looked around for a few minutes before determining that it was still safe. They took precaution however, hugging the wall as they raced as fast as they could to the tunnel that held the exit to the mountain. They made it to the cave with no incident, then made a quick pace towards the hole in the ceiling of the tunnel, which stood about fifty feet above them once they reached a dead end in the cavern.

Patamon digivolved to Angemon and lifted the group out of the dark tunnels two by two, getting all of the digidestined and their friends to safety within a few minutes. They then departed down the mountain, reaching the foot of the massive structure relatively quickly. After arriving, they all took a rest from the long walk they had just endured. After the rest, Tentomon announced he had the energy to digivolve, and warped to MegaKabuterimon, allowing the rest of the group to ride on his back. He then pushed off of the ground and took a 20 minute trip through the desert to Shichiri village.

The digidestined were welcomed with warm and worried arms by Babamon and the villagers of Shichiri village, who took most of the group down to the dining hall to eat and discover what had happened (Matt was taken by Hakase to the infirmary). Tai depressingly recanted their story to Babamon and the other villagers, who listened with anxiety and discomfort as they learned that Myotismon had returned, and digivolved to mega. After he had finished, Babamon took the digidestined to the rooms that had been set up for them (upon their arrival a room had been set up for Rika and Izzy respectively).

***

"How is he doing?" T.K. surprised Hakase, who was leaning over a digital monitor on his desk, watching the progress of Matt Ishida's heart.

"He's fine right now," Hakase replied, rubbing his eyes. He had barely gotten any sleep last night. He had stayed up awhile monitoring and making sure the unconscious Matt was comfortable in Hakase's office, also waking up multiple times that night to check on him. He finally had to post a guard to keep watch over the former evil tamer, a blue/white reptile humanoid named Strikedramon, with green pants and spiked armor on select parts of his body.

"Then why is he still asleep?"

"The only type of energy Matt was using when he was evil was corrupted data, so after I severed the dark needle a lot of his biological processes began to slow down: not enough to do any serious damage to him, but enough to knock him out for awhile so the energy in his body can convert to pure data." T.K. nodded at what Hakase said, only loosely understanding, then stood silent. Hakase returned to the heart monitor on his desk, which was attached to Takeru's older brother a few feet away.

"Are you sure he's not evil anymore?" T.K. asked.

"Yeah. The tips of the needle where I cut it is already starting to decompose, you can take a look for yourself if you'd like."

"He was only gone for ten minutes." T.K. muttered.

"I'm sorry?"

"Back home, when we were walking back to the house, Matt saw something out in the woods. He thought someone might be hurt so he went to figure out what had happened. He was only gone for about ten minutes before I went looking for him and came to the digital world too."

"You're sure about this?" Hakase stared at the boy with utter seriousness.

"There's not exactly a lot of room for error Hakase."

"That's... odd." Hakase turned back to his desk, scratching his head. Neither he or T.K. spoke for the next few minutes (or for that matter the Strikedramon guarding the former evil tamer lying on a gurney in the corner of the room).

"I'm going to go get something to drink." T.K. sighed, then left the room.

"Uh-huh." He tapped his desk slowly, contemplating the confusing situation.

"Ugh..." A groan from the opposite side of the room drew Hakase's attention out of his quiet thoughts.

"Strikedramon?" He looked up at the guard, who shrugged.

"I thought it was you." He replied. Both sets of eyes then immediately snapped onto Matt, who was shaking his head slowly to drive away the horrible headache he had endured during his state of unconsciousness.

"Matt!" Hakase sprang from his desk and scuttled over to the blond Japanese boy and dragged a footstool from underneath the bed so he could prop himself up to the boy's eye level. "How are you doing?"

"Who... who are you!?" Matt struggled to break from the straps that held him to the bed for safety reasons, his blurry eyes preventing him from gaining full appreciation of the situation.

"Matt, just relax, you've been asleep for over a day." Hakase set his scaly palm on the boy's arm to calm him, but all it did was shock him.

"What was that?" Matt struggled violently. "What's going on here? Who are..." Matt's eyes suddenly came into focus, and spotted the two humanoid dinosaurs standing over him. "Oh god oh god oh god!" Matt fought the binds as hard as he could to escape. "Get away from me! Please don't eat me!"

"Matt what is your problem? Do you not remember?" Hakase gripped the boy's arm again, this time aggressively, to restrain him. Strikedramon tried to move forward to offer his assistance, but all it did was disturb Matt even more, so Hakase called the champion off.

"Remember what?" Matt tried to push himself away from Hakase, to no avail.

"What you did."

"What I..." Matt began to calm down as he recognized the two creatures standing before him as digimon. "What I did..." A horrified look suddenly came onto the boy's face, and he stopped struggling. "Oh no, I-I-I..." Matt began to fall into a state of deep disgust with himself as memories over the past 13 months began rushing back into him.

"Yeah that."

"Gabumon!" Matt attempted to spring up, concern for his partner temporarily impeding the flow of memories. "Is Gabumon okay?"

"He's fine Matt, we have him in a separate cell."

"A cell, why do you have him in a ce-" Things began to click in the reborn digidestined's head. "You guy's captured me."

"Yes we did."

"And you helped me."

"Uh-huh."

"You saved me from the dark needle."

"That I did."

"I threw my brother off of a cliff."

"Yeah... you did that too." Hakase changed to a solemn tone.

"Is he okay? Where is he?"

"He's outside; Strikedramon will go get him for you." He looked at the champion reptile, then nodded his head over to the door. The monster at once shook his head and dashed silently out of the room.

"I almost killed him..." Matt became wrapped up in his thoughts. "I almost killed my brother..." Tears began to fill the boy's eyes.

"Matt, listen to me-"

"No. I terrorized countless amounts of digimon, and then I almost killed one of the most important people in the world to me. What have I done?"

"Matt, it wasn't your fault."

"The hell it wasn't!"

"Matt!" Hakase squeezed the boy's arm again, this time to gain his focus. "Everything that you've done: it wasn't your fault. You were controlled by the dark needle. You had no control over your own actions. There was nothing you could have done."

"But... I did do it. I felt myself doing those things, and I knew I had the power to stop it, but I didn't want to."

"That's because the dark needle corrupted you. It made you think you wanted to do things that you didn't really want to do, and it made you think it was your decision, when in reality it was Myotismon's, excuse me Val's."

"Myotismon..." A serious look overcame Matt's face.

"What's wrong?" Hakase began to unbuckle the straps on Matt's bed to free the boy from his temporary imprisonment.

"Matt!" T.K. burst into the room, almost slamming the door off of it's hinges, and bounded off of Hakase's head to catch his brother in a chest crushing hug.

"T.K.!" Matt squeezed just as tightly.

"I'm so glad you're okay!"

"I'm so sorry for what I did T.K., you have to-"

"It's okay Matt, it wasn't your fault. You were being controlled by Devimon, but it's over now. You're free!" He released his brother from the hug, who breathed heavily before looking up at his pint sized brother.

"So... you forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive Matt. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Something tells me there's a few digimon out there who would disagree." Matt replied solemnly.

"Hey!" T.K. socked the boy in his right arm, much to Matt's discomfort.

"What was that for?" Matt flinched.

"This is a happy moment, you're okay! Don't get depressed!"

"Right, sorry."

"I'm glad you're both together again," Hakase muttered as he stood up dizzily off of the ground, rubbing his head in the process, "But next time could you use something else besides my head as a stepping stool?"

"Sorry Hakase." T.K. laughed as he jumped off of the bed, releasing the last of Matt's binds during his jump. "I got a little excited." Just then Strikedramon came bumbling in, breathing heavily.

"You could have waited Mr. Ishida..." Strikedramon breathed heavily.

"I'm glad your back Strikedramon," Hakase smiled as he sat down on his desk chair, "You think you could go and get Tsunomon from the research cells?" Strikedramon gave him a dirty look, but complied, closing the door as he departed from the room. The three could here his distant grumbling fade away after a few seconds.

"Oh no." Matt dawned another serious look.

"Matt, I said be happy!" T.K. smacked his brother's leg, which was dangling off of the hospital bed after the reborn tamer had sat upright for the first time in over a day.

"Matt, sit back down, you need a couple of hours to recover." Hakase instructed his patient.

"I've gotta warn your friends." Matt stood up quickly, fell back down due to the weakness in his legs and the headache that slammed into his cerebrum, then stood up again and began to stumble towards the door.

"Warn them about what?"

"About what VenomMyotismon's going to do next."

***

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Babamon appeared from behind the Cherubimon fountain of the meeting pit, startling the ten digidestined and digimon in the circle. "I had to deal with a few political issues. It's been a little hectic here for me since... well you know." Babamon dropped down to the bottom of the meeting pit and took up a spot in one of the few spaces left. "Now, I understand we're in a bit of a predicament."

"VenomMyotismon..." Agumon growled.

"Yes, I believe that was understood." Babamon sighed.

"Is he really the only other mega in the digital world besides you?" Izzy inquired the elder.

"I'm not sure about that, but it wouldn't surprise me." She replied.

"So how are we supposed to beat him?" Tai moaned, "He's at a level that we can't reach, and even a Royal Knight couldn't stop him."

"We don't know that for sure," Eric tugged the earphones out of his ears and turned off the music player he had been listening to in Babamon's absence, "All we know is that VenomMyotismon left the cave. We don't know what happened to Leopardmon."

"But it is a pretty solid guess that whatever did happen, Leopardmon was not in any way a victor of his and Val's match." Babamon spoke.

"If Leopardmon is still alive then he's probably our best bet for defeating VenomMyotismon."

"He said he had regained his ultimate power," Izzy expressed some of Leopardmon's last words, "I'm thinking he's only as powerful as Terriermon and the rest of our partners."

"Do you think a combined effort from all of us and the-" Kari began but was cut off.

"Cherrymon wiped out our best soldiers, we don't have the capacity to handle a massive battle to that magnitude when everyone at our disposal are champions."

"Aren't there supposed to be ultimates on Server?" Eric rapidly tapped his fingers against his thigh in angst.

"There are very few. The only ones I can think of who were here before you all arrived were Etemon, Mammothmon, Garudamon, and Datamon." Tai tensed his triceps at the first and last names. "Sorry Tai." The bitter memories of fifteen days ago were a sore subject for the digidestined's leader.

"Who is Garudamon?" Rika questioned.

"She used to be the head of Shichiri village after I retired, but when she heard that the evil tamers arrived she tried to stop them, but they killed her."

"I'm sorry."

"It's just another soul taken by Cherrymon, like Dinohumon, and another reason to take him down."

"It wouldn't matter anyway, would it?" Eric interjected. "If 100 champion digimon could be slaughtered by Cherrymon, then how could we expect ten ultimates to take on Val?"

"Eleven." Kari corrected him.

"I'm sorry?"

"Matt too."

"I don't think Matt is in any condition to be fighting a mega level digimon. Besides, we don't even know if he's actually free of the dark needle's hold yet." Tai corrected his sibling, who was sitting a space away from him with Salamon in between.

"Izzy you told us that your web cam was able to scan the data of the digital world to find out DarkTyrannomon's weak spot. Do you think you could try that again?" Eric asked the boy sitting across from him.

"The only weak spot I could find in DarkTyrannomon was his black gears, and I doubt Val has any of those, but I could try." The genius replied.

"Could you get close enough though?" Said Rika.

"I should hope."

"Babamon, Babamon!" Hakase sliced through the fabric door of the meeting area and stumbled towards the pit, stopping himself just before he could tumble onto the team of tamers and Babamon just below him.

"Hakase, that is incredibly rude!" The elder mega snapped at the rookie.

"I'm sorry, but it's an emergency." He breathed heavily.

"What?"

"Matt just woke up, and he remembered something that you need to here. Matt! T.K.! Hurry up!" He yelled out of the tent, and about half a minute later the two brothers and their digimon partners rushed into the room. The digidestined and their partners all tensed when they saw the former evil digidestined enter the building, but calmed down after a second when Babamon began talking.

"What is going on Hakase?" The irritated elder addressed the scientist. The dinosaur nodded at Matt, who then began to speak nervously.

"Um, before you guys caught me and..." He nodded at his left shoulder, "Did this, Myotismon had us preparing to help him ascend to mega."

"We gathered that thank you." Eric stated sarcastically.

"That's not all," Matthew sighed, "Before, when he told us how to help him gain the energy to digivolve, he said that at first he would experience a surge of power, like digimon normally do when they digivolve."

"That trait is unique to the digidestined, since you have the digivices to help your partners evolve more quickly."

"But the way Myotismon digivolved was to take the energy of all of our digimon partners at the peak of their power, so he could get an energy surge and evolve sooner."

"Oh."

"And he doesn't degenerate like normal digimon either, so when he reaches the point where he should de-digivolve, and he doesn't, he's going to lose control for awhile."

"Lose control?" Babamon muttered.

"He's going to unleash a lot of pent up degeneration energy, and VenomMyotismon is going to take it out on the nearest digimon village so he can get even stronger."

"Where's the village closest to your base?" Tai sprang up, hanging onto Matt's every word.

"You mean the closest one that still exists?" Rika growled at the explaining boy.

"Yeah..." Matt sighed.

"It's this one." Babamon answered the original question. "Shichiri village is the only village left that is nearest the evil tamer's mountain."

"So you see the problem."

***

"Hurry up soldiers, get yourselves together!" MoriShellmon snapped his fingers at the scrambling Starmon, who were all trying to find their ranks on the little notice that they had. After grilling Matt for a few more minutes, Babamon had immediately ordered the military forces left in the village to gather at the border of the forest and desert. As the forces had begun to order themselves into their respective platoons, they could see the seven digidestined conversing with Babamon and Hakase a few hundred feet out in the desert.

"Are you sure you want to do this Tai?" Babamon looked up at the taller human sadly, who nodded with confidence.

"We have to Babamon. If Val attacks this village, you're not going to stand a chance against him." Tai placed his hand on the monster's shoulder, attempting to reassure her. "We're the best chance at stopping him before that happens."

"But you could not face him last time. He defeated you so easily."

"But we didn't all fight last time," Eric interrupted Tai, who was about to protest, "We will all fight him now, and this time we'll have Matt to help us. Right Matt?" He turned to the tamer, who was standing a few feet back from the main group with his brother, Patamon, and Gabumon.

"After everything that I've done... it's the least I could do." Matt struggled to keep his voice together when he replied. His brother stretched to pat him on the back in an effort to comfort the taller pre-teen.

"You see Babamon, we'll be able to handle ourselves better this time." Tai smiled.

"But what if you-" Babamon began to protest.

"We have to do this Babamon, it's our last shot."

"We need to attack Val before he loses control of himself, otherwise we won't stand a chance when we get there." Eric reasoned.

"I'll go with them to make sure they don't get into any trouble." Hakase smiled.

"Okay then, you better get moving." She patted the goggle head on the back. "Drive safe." She chuckled at Tentomon, who was getting ready to deliver a large group of digidestined towards VenomMyotismon and the rest of the evil tamers.

"But of course." Tentomon laughed.

"Most of the men are ready." Omekamon popped up from behind Renamon, startling the group. "They are ready to leave on your command, Babamon."

"Right, tell them to go ahead and start moving. You still remember the route correct?"

"Yes ma'am." Omekamon pivoted on his heel and turned back towards the large army of champion digimon. "We're moving out!" He yelled across the desert. 3 digimon in front of three groups of 300 digimon then nodded to their forces behind them and the 903 monsters set off, walking en masse across the massive desert towards the evil tamer's mountain, where they hoped to provide support to the hero digidestined who were preparing to leave.

"Go on, we'll be rooting for you." Babamon nodded to the seven digidestined and then walked off, making her way in between two of the marching companies back towards Shichiri.

"Let us fly Tentomon." Said Eric to his partner. Two lights, one bright white and the other a very light purple, streamed into Tentomon's body and he increased in size exponentially. The blue-red MegaKabuterimon stood there a few seconds later, opening the shell casing over his wings to offer a seat to the other 14 passengers.

"Let's go." He knelt down, allowing the group to climb up the spiky foot holds of the digimon's back. They all took place on one of these holds, getting as comfortable as possible.

"Be careful MegaKabuterimon, we don't exactly have seat belts back here," Eric told his partner from the highest foot hold, closest to MegaKabuterimon's neck, "Or anything else for that matter." MegaKabuterimon groaned, then leaped off of the ground and flapped his wings rapidly, pulling the team up into the air. He shot across the sky, speeding through the desert like the wind. He kept his red shell partially over the seven digimon and seven humans, protecting them from the wind so all they had to deal with was MegaKabuterimon's incredible speed. MegaKabuterimon kept on for half an hour, before suddenly stopping to investigate something out of the digidestined's range of vision. "A little warning next time would be nice MegaKabuterimon."

"You should take a look at this." MegaKabuterimon lifted his heavy shell and twisted to his right, allowing the fourteen passengers to look over the monster's shoulder at a field of desert.

"What are we supposed to be looking at?" Rika growled.

"Yeah, there's nothing here." Izzy supplemented.

"That's the point." Answered MegaKabuterimon. "This is where that mountain is supposed to be. It's not here anymore."

"The evil tamer's mountain?" Eric flinched.

"Our mountain is in a range farther to the north, not in the middle of the desert." Matt answered for him.

"No," MegaKabuterimon sighed, "This is where the mountain where we fought Myotismon used to be."

"Where did it go?" Kari asked worriedly.

"I don't know, but we don't have the time to find out. Keep moving MegaKabuterimon." Tai instructed. The insect nodded, much to the displeasure of his tamer, and lowered his wings to protect them from the wind as he continued his flight through the desert sky. He sliced through the air for another hour, then announced he was stopping. The monster landed with a light thud, then opened his wings.

"We're here." MegaKabuterimon announced, signaling the riders to relieve themselves from the monster's back. As MegaKabuterimon de-digivolved, the group looked around, and they found themselves on a flat, rocky area in the middle of a mountainous region. "This is the mountain that Omekamon and Matt described to me, is it right?" Tentomon looked over at the former evil tamer, who nodded quickly.

"Then we should get going now." Tai instructed. "Lead the way Matt."

"Wait." Rika objected. "Listen Tai, I know he's T.K.'s brother and all, but-"

"I understand if you don't trust me, it's not like I've really done anything to deserve it."

"We do trust you Matt," Tai denounced Rika's concerns, "You were evil, thanks to Devimon's dark needle. But you're not anymore. That dark needle isn't working anymore, we know you're free. You're T.K.'s brother, and a digidestined, that's good enough for me. And that should be good enough for everyone else-" He turned his head to the girl behind him "-Since they thought it fit to make me the leader of this marry band of thieves."

"Ooh Tai, old movie reference: good job." Eric chuckled.

"Shove it." He growled.

"You guys are perfect for each other aren't you?" The American laughed again.

"What are you talking about?"

"Before we do anything," Izzy released the clasps on his laptop case and pulled out the high tech computer and placed it on his lap. He then latched a small camera onto the top lip of the piece of equipment and opened a few programs on his computer.

"Izzy-" Kari tried to talk to the genius.

"Not now please." Izzy remained focused on his computer. Within a few seconds a window popped open that revealed only a cluster of black and white pixels.

"How does that help?" Rika peered over the boy's shoulder, looking at the seemingly uninterpretable video.

"You just have to know what to look for." Izzy tapped the center of the screen. "You see this-" Izzy scrambled backwards, something surprising him.

"What?" Rika jumped backwards so the boy's head didn't collide with her face.

"We're too late!"

"What?" Just then a massive explosion shattered the mountain top in front of them, radiating debris across the mountain range. They spilled (fortunately) out of range of the seven digidestined, who were only focused on the monster standing on top of the mountain.

"He's awake." Matt whined.

"If we don't attack now he's just going to get even more powerful!" Tai ordered.

"Then lead the way." Responded Izzy.

"Are you okay to help Gabumon?" Matt asked the two-legged dog next to him.

"Of course Matt." He nodded with a determination he did not have when he was evil.

"After we (hopefully) defeat VenomMyotismon, it should be a lot easier to save all of the other evil tamers." Tai assured the seventh destined.

"Thanks." Matt smiled.

**"Agumon, warp digivolve to... MetalGreymon!"**

**"Gabumon, warp digivolve to... WereGarurumon!"**

**"Renamon, warp digivolve to... Taomon!"**

**"Terriermon, warp digivolve to... Rapidmon!"**

**"Salamon, warp digivolve to... Angewomon!"**

**"Tentomon, warp digivolve to... MegaKabuterimon!"**

**"Patamon, warp digivolve to... MagnaAngemon!"**

The seven ultimate digimon stood in a mass in front of the tamers, preparing to begin their assault on the out of control mega, who was stomping down the mountain in a fury.

"Welcome to the team WereGarurumon, you up for the challenge?" MetalGreymon smiled at the wolf beside him.

"I would be honored to help all of you." He leaped forward, sticking his feet into the mountain earth and dashing up the hill towards VenomMyotismon.

"Let's go!" MetalGreymon flew up into the air, rushing towards the monster as well. The other five digimon then leaped into the air, flying after the dramon. Something caught Taomon's eye, and she curved away from the team.

"Where are you going?" Rapidmon yelled to her.

"Just taking care of something, I'll be right there!" She yelled back. Taomon then lowered herself to the mouth of a cave, behind a group of five children who had pooled out of the mountain to interfere in the battle.

"Okay Mushroomon, take care of-" Yolei's digivice suddenly flew out of her hand, as well as the digivices of the other four destined. "What the hell!?" She and the other tamers looked up to see Taomon hovering above them with a crystal bubble, which contained the five digivices.

"Why don't you sit this one out." She smiled, then flew off. She sped back to the group of hero tamers and dropped the crystalline bubble into her partner's hands. "Watch this." She commented before speeding off towards the rest of her friends. In the short time she had left, the battle had already turned in Val's favor. The soulless digimon in his fury had already knocked to the ground MegaKabuterimon, Angewomon, and MagnaAngemon, who were struggling to escape the wild, stomping feet of the horrendous mega. MetalGreymon, Rapidmon, and WereGarurumon were having a hard time just attempting to do any damage.

"Talisman Star!" Taomon leaped into the brawl, firing a red beam from her brush. This surprised Val, who was distracted long enough to forget the other three digimon, who were quick to attack.

"Giga Blaster!"

"Rapid Fire!"

"Wolf Claw!" The three aimed for Val's left knee, slightly damaging it and making the digimon buckle under his own weight. He easily got past the pain however and was quick to take his revenge.

"Venom Infusion!" Four beams of vicious energy spewed from slash marks in VenomMyotismon's waist and incinerated the earth around him. One of the beams smashed into WereGarurumon's lung and knocked him off of his feet, twirling the wolf through the air for a minute before he began to tumble down the hill.

"No!" Matt leaped forward, prepared to try and rescue his battered digimon, but Tai grabbed the boy's bad arm and held him back. "Let go!"

"If you go out there you'll just put yourself in harms way. WereGarurumon has a lot more stamina than you so just keep yourself still!" Tai ordered the semi-new recruit.

"We've got a problem here." MetalGreymon swerved away from VenomMyotismon's deadly arm, almost shattering the monster's bones.

"We're running out of options, we need to find a strategic way to stop him before it's too late." Taomon reasoned.

"We could try the trinity force again, see if that works." Rapidmon suggested.

"It's worth a shot." MetalGreymon nodded. "Tai!" The dramon screamed at his partner as he freed himself from the battle, allowing Taomon and Rapidmon to distract the mega. "We need to try the trinity force, can you lend us some energy?"

"We'll try!" Tai yelled back. He then nodded to Izzy and Rika, who both then tapped the single button on their digivices along with the goggle headed boy. Three streams of energy erupted from the two standing children and the one with a laptop on his thighs, and they slammed into their ultimate partner's backs, transforming the three into a bright light. The three then rose into the air and formed into an enormous golden bird, who raced towards VenomMyotismon, slamming into his chest with ferocious power. Val's chest erupted with pain, and he crashed onto the ground behind him, partially sliding down the mountain before he caught himself weakly. During that time, the four rookie digimon who had been previously defeated as ultimates had dragged themselves back to the rocky platform and reunited with their partners. Tai chuckled at their hopeful success, looking to Izzy for reassurance. "Well, did it work?"

"That wasn't a good idea." Izzy responded.

"Why?"

"Because according to what I'm seeing of Val's biology, he doesn't have any weak spots. In fact, his chest is the strongest part of his body. The only way we can stop him is if we overpower him." VenomMyotismon then surprised everyone by jumping back up and slamming his fist into Rapidmon, who crashed into the earth with a bang just in front of the seven digidestined and Hakase. Izzy leaped from his seated position, letting his laptop clatter onto the ground, and came to the aid of his weakened comrade Terriermon.

"No..." Kari muttered in defeat as she held the weak Salamon in her arms.

"I guess our only hope now is that Omekamon and his army will get here soon and they'll be enough to turn the tide of the war." Tai said optimistically.

"Tyrant Savage!" Val drove his bony fist into MetalGreymon's gut, tossing him onto the ground and degenerating just in front of the digidestined.

"No!" Tai dashed away from the digidestined and past Izzy down the mountain path a ways, pulling his beaten partner out of the debris.

"If we only had more time, we could have prepared for this better." Izzy cried as he pulled his weak partner out of the ground and returned to the rocky platform.

"I'm sorry I couldn't warn you sooner." Matt breathed sorrowfully.

***

"You ready?"

"Of course."

"Remember, if we don't create an opening, then the entire plan is useless."

"I know."

"Don't destroy him yourself, make sure the other tamers believe they destroyed him, and that you had only a small effect on the tide of the battle."

"Considering that there's only one of them left, that might be hard to do, but I'll try to make it work."

"What's your plan for taking the other side anyway?"

"I've been practicing."

"What kind of practice?"

"The kind that if you knew what we've been doing you would bow to me right this second."

"Then I'm glad you're a team player."

"You should be. Let's move Keramon!"

***

"What am I going to do?" Taomon groaned to herself as she dodged another fist from the vicious VenomMyotismon. She breathed heavily, dodging another few swipes, as she tried to contemplate a good plan of attack. Now that she was alone, she had very few openings to form a Talisman star, and even if she did the only place where it might have a positive result would be in VenomMyotismon's eyes, which were an almost impossible target on this particular digimon and his wild limbs.

"Spider Shooter!" Suddenly a few red blasts crushed themselves into Val's face, and he screamed in agony. Then a red and white oval sliced through the air and yelled "Network Grenade", driving a small horn on it's front into Val's forehead, who cried out in fury, knocking the monster off of his head and onto the earth below.

"Who is that?" Tai muttered as he dragged the semi-conscious Agumon back to the other destined.

"It's Infermon, Koichi's partner." Matt observed with surprise.

"He's helping us now?" Rika stated in disbelief.

"It looks like it." Tai said hopefully.

"All the more reason not to give up hope." Agumon muttered, pulling himself off of the ground as Infermon released his legs and jumped into the air, climbing onto Val's leg and head butting the monster's thigh.

"Agumon?" Tai looked down at the battered rookie, who had a look of determination on his face Tai had never seen before.

"We need- egh, egh!- to keep fighting."

"Agumon, you don't have any strength left!"

"Then I guess I'll just have to find some."

"From where? I don't know if me giving you anything would do any good, or if I have anything to give you at all."

"I'm sick of it Tai."

"Sick of what?"

"Sick of dealing with VenomMyotismon constantly terrorizing my home. I've lived in fear all of my life, trying to escape Devimon and his soldiers of evil, and I'm sick of it. I want it to stop, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to stop him!"

"Agumon, you don't-"

"I have to... help them. I have to find a way to stop Val. Last time, you helped me digivolve to beat him, so if I have to do that again then I'll find some way to do it- for my friends and the entire digital world!"

"Agumon, how do you expect to get that kind of pow-" Tai stopped himself when he saw an orange light reflecting off of the rock in front of Agumon, who was leaning forward in exhaustion. He leaned forward as well and looked at his partner's chest, shocked at what he found. "The crest of courage."

"What?" Agumon looked down at his chest as well, and was equally surprised. "Well look at that." He smiled, then stood up, stretching his muscles, energy beginning to flow into him, healing his wounds.

"Agumon, this isn't just my crest, this is yours too. And when you showed all that courage, your half of it activated."

"Then what are we waiting for?" He smiled at the spiky haired boy, who nodded, then stood up, backing away from his partner to give him some digivolution space.

"Tear him apart."

**"Agumon, warp digivolve to..."** Only the orange light slammed into Agumon this time, and he began to quadruple in size, reaching a just over human adult size.

"No!" Upon this change, Val suddenly regained control of his body, and knocked both Infermon and Taomon away with a series of swipes and lunged at the glowing monster. The light burst away a second later, and the figure, still an orange blur, swung his fist into Val's head, knocking the digimon back onto his mountain before he could reach the digidestined in front of him. The orange blur then rose into the sky with speed more efficient than WereGarurumon and MegaKabuterimon combined.

"Wow." Gabumon sighed from his weak position in Matt's lap.

"You couldn't, you couldn't!" Val screamed in fear of the digimon in front of him, who had stopped rising in the air and was now at eye level with the vampire-demon. "How could you possibly digivolve to mega!?"

"Because unlike you, I know how to utilize both the power of my friends and my own power to reach my full potential, whereas you just steal other digimon's strength for your own selfish desires." The tall digimon smiled at Val, his glorious yellow armor shining brightly in the sun. The digimon looked like a humanoid version of MetalGreymon, except with some vast improvements. Two pieces of silver/red armor were strapped to his shins, and an enormous, yellow gauntlet with sharp, silver claws was strapped to each of the mega's arms. A metal plate covered both his chest and his pelvis, and a metal helmet (very similar to MetalGreymon's) and neck guard covered the rest of the monster's upper body. One of his newest and most impressive features however, was the massive yellow octagonal shield with the crest of courage painted on it. The shield was separated down the middle at the moment, creating an impressive pair of wings for the monster to hover in the air.

"Who is he now?" Tai gasped in awe.

"He's WarGreymon, one of the strongest megas in the entire digital world." Hakase responded, equally awed. "Omekamon will be so jealous."

"So, I guess I was right about you after all." Val growled at his new opponent. Taomon and Infermon, glad to be relieved of the disadvantaged battle, had jumped to the sidelines, where Koichi was standing on a small hill close to where the other hero digidestined were.

"What do you mean by that?" WarGreymon growled in response.

"You're never going to find out."

"I really don't care," WarGreymon replied, raising one of his massive clawed arms into the air. "The only thing I do care about, is watching your head roll off of your neck." A massive fiery sphere, the same size as Val's chest, then formed above the monster's claws. He then quickly raised his other arm and gripped the ball with both arms, driving it forward towards his evil opponent. "Terra Force!" The orb smashed into Val's chest before he could really mount a defense, and the fire exploded into the monster and knocked him into the mountain, making it shatter into a billion pieces of debris. The monster stood up in the ruins of the former base and brushed himself off.

"I'm not intimidated by you!" Val screamed as he drove his fist towards the much smaller digimon.

"We'll see about that!" WarGreymon also tossed his clawed gauntlet at the opponent's arm and used his shield-wings to fly forward towards Val's chest. When his and Val's arms came into contact, the new digivolution's claw easily tore through the arm, tearing it into pieces of data. "Just like old times eh?" He laughed as his obviously superior body came into contact with Val's heart.


	34. Through the Rabbit Hole

**Chapter Thirty Four: Through the Rabbit Hole**

WarGreymon struggled to remove his clawed gauntlet from his opponent's chest. It took massive effort to slide the jammed claws out of Val's armored plate and launch himself off of the monster. After freeing himself, he flew a few dozen yards away from Val, who was breathing heavily on the ground, and hovered in the air to recover from the failed attack.

"Well that wasn't as effective as I was hoping it would be." WarGreymon chuckled light heartedly.

"It looks like we are more evenly matched then you had hoped." Val laughed painfully, wincing as he struggled to get off of the ground.

"Tell that to your arm." WarGreymon nodded at the shreds that formerly housed his powerful biceps and triceps. "Or what's left of it."

"A minor inconvenience." Val scoffed as he grabbed what was left of his left arm with his right palm and tore it from his shoulder. He let the dead weight drop to the ground with a thud, then squeezed the bloody wound tightly. Bone and flesh hissed under the monster's palm, and stem spewed out from under the massive digimon's hand. He released a few seconds later to reveal his wound had been burnt shut to avoid loss of blood. "This isn't like last time WarGreymon, you aren't at a higher level than I. We are equally matched."

"We were equally matched until you let your rampage die out. Now that you've gained control of your body, you're back to an average mega power level."

"Do you forget who I am?"

"Of course I cannot forget the son-of-a-bitch who was been terrorizing my home for the past two years, but I will destroy you nevertheless."

"It seems as if you have forgotten."

"Excuse me?"

"You fool, I have plagued your pathetic excuse for a planet for longer than just two years."

"And how should I have known about that?"

"You will not live long enough to find out."

"We shall see."

"Venom Infusion!"

"Terra Force!"

Beams of rainbow colored light burst from small slits on VenomMyotismon's pelvis, while WarGreymon formed a massive sphere of fire in his palms and threw it at Val's chest. Both raging energies blew into each other with a fury and radiated a massive cloud of smoke from the collision point.

"You see!?" Val laughed from the opposite side of the dust column. "You do not outwit me WarGreymon!" A massive fire sphere then glided through the dust and slammed into Val's chest before the monster could stop. While Val struggled to stop himself from falling down, his metal opponent sliced through the dust, dissipating it as he raced his massive gauntlet fist towards the unsuspecting vampire-demon.

"No!" Val let himself drop to the ground and tossed a blind fist forward, hoping to block the speeding dramon. Blind luck guided his fist into WarGreymon's side and knocked him stumbling into the ground. With the little time he had left, he then rolled over and struggled to stand up and balance himself.

"Ow." WarGreymon groaned as he shoved a small pile of boulders off of his legs. This was just the opportunity Val needed.

"Touch of Evil!" VenomMyotismon stretched his over-sized arm and shot it through the air towards WarGreymon. The demonic appendage sliced through the air, poisoning it with darkness along the way. Time running out, and WarGreymon reacted too quickly.

"Pepper Breath!" A flare flashed towards Val and exploded into the vampire's palm, doing no damage. The demon stopped his attack out of confusion and observed his unharmed palm condescendingly.

"Did you really just fire a Pepper Breath at me?" Val scoffed at his opponent, who was using the distraction to slowly free himself from his rocky bonds. "What could you have possibly expected to happen? Did you think this would hurt me?"

"It was worth a shot." WarGreymon laughed as he slipped from his containment, unseen by VenomMyotismon.

"Obviously not." Val laughed, lowering his hand away from his face.

"Sure about that!?" WarGreymon had launched himself off of the ground during Val's distraction and was already a few feet from the monster. Val had know time to react as WarGreymon drove his heavy gauntlet fist into the vampire's jaw, knocking the monster's head backwards in a vicious uppercut. WarGreymon then snapped his enormous feet together and dropped down towards Val's chest, pounding on the monster's esophagus and plowing the mega into the ground. "Because you were stupid enough to fall for it."

"Grisly Wing!" In WarGreymon's triumph he failed to secure Val's free arm, which quickly unleashed a sea of dark bats that began to swarm around WarGreymon like death. They bit at his armor, trying to take small bits of data to weaken the fresh evolution. WarGreymon wouldn't allow this, and began slashing ferociously at the in-training equivalent monsters. He easily shredded a few thousand of the pestilence covered creatures within the first few seconds, but he learned that he would soon be overwhelmed, as the massive collage of bats was ever growing from an unknown portal within VenomMyotismon's palm.

"Terra Force!" A massive sphere of flame incinerated millions of the dark creatures, but failed to eliminate the majority. The masses of bats then began to replenish from VenomMyotismon's portal, making WarGreymon's efforts useless.

"I fear I might have left the battle prematurely." Taomon sighed from the sidelines. Once the battle had gotten underway and WarGreymon had seemingly gained the upper hand, she had departed from the hill that Koichi and Infermon were resting on and returned to Rika's side.

"I think you're right Taomon." Her tomboy partner agreed. "Do you think you can handle those alpha bats so WarGreymon can handle VenomMyotismon?"

"It shouldn't be too difficult, but I might want to see if he will help." The humanoid fox nodded over to the data spider watching the battle intensely from an upper hill a few dozen yards away from the hero tamer's platform.

"Hurry up with it, WarGreymon won't have the advantage for long if this keeps up." Tai muttered.

"I'm going, Yggdrasil..." Taomon groaned as she leaped off of the ground lightly and hovered over to the evil pair. She landed to the side of them a few seconds later and spoke. "I don't know why you helped us before, but we still need your help now." She addressed the arachnid digimon. "Will you help me keep the alpha-bats distracted so WarGreymon can finish off VenomMyotismon?" Neither Koichi or Infermon spoke, but the latter nodded, then crawled towards the battle scene. Taomon sighed with relief, and then jumped into the air to participate as well. "Talisman Star!"

"Spider Shooter!" A red flaming star and a white orb whizzed through the air and exploded on the edge of the alpha bat cloud. A few thousand of the tiny creatures were incinerated due to the two monster's attacks, grabbing their attention away from their original target. About a third of the winged mammals then departed from their assault on WarGreymon and quickly swarmed over Taomon and Infermon, who retaliated by swatting angrily at the chiropterians with their claws (and in Taomon's case, her brush). The duo's slashing made quick work of the alphas, and then jumped into the air to handle the alphas swarming WarGreymon. In that time, Val had recovered from WarGreymon's pounce, and was regaining himself a few hundred yards away from the brawl.

"Talisman Star!"

"Spider Shooter!"

A combined attack cleared out a pathway from the open air to WarGreymon, who took the opportunity to escape the soon-to-be massacre. He quickly flew out of the alpha sphere and hovered a few feet away from Taomon, who was already prepared to make another attack. She took a second to observe WarGreymon, who's armor was extremely dented.

"Did you have fun in there?" She smiled.

"That's funny, very funny." WarGreymon rolled his eyes, then flashed away towards Val, who was still trying to recover from WarGreymon's painful blasts. "Terra Force!" While Taomon and Infermon cleared away thousands of alpha bats, WarGreymon formed a massive energy sphere in his palms and drove it forward towards Val, who was slow to react but defended nonetheless.

"Venom Infusion!" Rainbow colored beams severed through WarGreymon's attack and caused it to explode, creating a small dust cloud in its wake. WarGreymon was completely exposed as he tried to slow down. With this opening, Val was able to strike quickly. "Crimson Lightning!" A blade of red energy slammed into WarGreymon before he could defend, and the metalloid monster skidded across the ground violently. Once he slowed down, the dramon tried to regain his bearings, but Val was ready. "Tyrant Savage!" Two giant fists crushed their knuckles into WarGreymon's gut, and he tumbled once again into a crumpled position on the ground.

"No! Val's winning!" Kari cried.

"Taomon, go-" Rika began to instruct her partner, but Tai stopped her.

"Just wait a minute." He said calmly.

"What?" Rika was shocked at Tai's apathetic reaction to his partner's ever closing defeat. "I'm not going to just let Val destroy your partner. What is the matter with you?"

"Just give him a minute okay?" Tai stared at her with determined eyes, revealing to her that there was something more to WarGreymon's current predicament than what met the eye.

"Okay."

"That was pathetic." Val groaned as he dragged his tired body over to WarGreymon, who was pressed into the earth as if it were play doh. "I thought you were better than that. But I guess you're not nearly as strong as you used to be."

"How did you come back?" WarGreymon gasped painfully.

"Excuse me?"

"I killed you. How did you come back so quickly?"

"Oh, you fool. Don't you remember how you gained the ability to slide evolve to SkullGreymon?"

"But Angewomon destroyed that part of you."

"No, she just separated my data from yours. You were the one that died, while I walked free."

"So if it wasn't for that... you would be trapped in the dark plane... like you were supposed to be?"

"I suppose, but what does that matter? You lost-" Suddenly WarGreymon sprang from the ground, shattering the earth around him into a dust-like debris. The monster sliced through the air and delivered an uppercut to Val's jaw, which the vampire was too stunned to block. He flew backwards and had to struggle to stop himself from collapsing onto the ground.

"You really thought those weak punches of yours would defeat me so easily? I told you, I'm going to destroy you one last time and that will be the end of this madness!" WarGreymon then rose his arms above his head and began to rotate quickly. "Great Tornado!" Picking up on WereGarurumon speeds, the spinning monster flew up into the air and curved backwards to redirect his course. He took a sharp curve through the air so that he was speeding straight for Val, then maintained his direction.

"Grisly Wing!" Val reacted quickly this time, spewing thousands of alpha-bats from his palm. The in-training equivalents flocked around WarGreymon, attempting to absorb the monster's data, but the dramon's speed was too great, and his metal armor shredded the chiropterians to data. Val didn't realize this until the dragon was only a few feet away from him, and by that time it was too late. "No!" Val tried to jump backwards, but WarGreymon slammed into the monster's chest plate before he could get away and easily tore through the once indestructible armor. WarGreymon then tore through Val's weak flesh, ripping the monster's trachea, lungs, and spinal cord in the process. He burst out of the other side of Val's chest with a bone chilling slash of flesh and blood, and then sped up into the air a ways before slowing down and observing his work.

"Thanks for telling me how you were resurrected, I was getting tired of toying with you." WarGreymon growled triumphantly. Val could only gag in response, and then fell to his knees, clutching the shattered remains of his chest. "Terra Force!" WarGreymon then completed his task, forming a massive flaming sphere in his palms and driving it into the gap in Val's armor. The orb spilled into Val's chest cavity, engulfing his organs in a deadly blaze.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" VenomMyotismon screamed into the heavens without purpose, then collapsed his upper body onto the ground with a thud. "You call... me a monster..." Val successfully muttered his last words, "but look... what you've done... to me..." Val breathed one last time before his data began to climb away from his body into the air.

"I feel no remorse for the death of a devil." WarGreymon sighed, then flew down to his partner slowly, passing Infermon and Taomon along the way, who had also returned to their partners after Val's death (The alpha-bats did not remain once their master had been defeated). He landed with a small thud on the earth before Tai and the others, and a few seconds later Taomon landed a few feet behind him. Infermon had scuttled up the hill and degenerated next to his partner.

"That was... really good WarGreymon." Tai smiled nervously at his partner. WarGreymon nodded weakly, his eyes dropping in exhaustion.

"Thank you Tai." He responded.

"That was more gruesome than anything else." Eric muttered under his breath.

"Do you have a problem with how I handled Val's execution?" WarGreymon tried to act intimidating, but he was too tired.

"No, he deserved it. Kudos." Eric laughed nervously. WarGreymon then collapsed onto one knee, holding his heavy chest with one arm.

"WarGreymon!" Tai came to his tall partner's side, who reassured him of his health.

"I'm fine Tai, just a little tired." He breathed.

"You should degenerate, conserve some energy."

"What about him?" WarGreymon nodded to the digidestined on the hill. "And his friends?"

"I'll figure out what the situation is with them." Taomon spoke from behind the muscular mega. "The other five can't do anything to us anyway, I took their digivices."

"How did you get those?"

"I found a rare opportunity to gain the upper hand."

"Okay then." WarGreymon sighed with relief, then let a bright white light take over him. A few seconds later the familiar small, pink head with big eyes and long, thin ears sat on the ground.

"Taomon." Rika held her partner back for a second. "I'm not sure what is going on with Koichi, but you should make sure all the other evil tamers won't try to escape."

"I'll cast a defense bubble around them so they won't go anywhere." She said, then flew into the air and hovered down into a small dip out of sight from the hero digidestined.

***

"Izzy..." A semi-unconscious Terriermon muttered under his breath to his partner, who at the moment was using his computer to check the health of Koromon. The boy stepped away for a minute to check on the battered rabbit-dog.

"Terriermon, are you okay?" He patted the rookie's head to gain his attention.

"Yeah, I'm just..."

"Just what?"

"I feel something."

"Terriermon, what is it?"

"I don't know."

"It's the cavalry, a few hours too late." Eric responded to Izzy and Terrierrmon's conversation. The boy was currently sitting on a rock, facing the rocky plains that led to the desert, while his sleeping partner leaned semi-comfortably against it. Izzy stood up to stare out into the hot barren field behind them. A few hundred yards away, a massive force of digimon was marching across the rock, with Omekamon leading the charge.

"You're late!" Izzy yelled out into the air with a relieved tone in his voice.

"Did we miss the battle?" Omekamon yelled out to the boy, confused as to why the genius was just standing out in the open.

"Yeah you did!" Eric yelled out to the Royal Knight imitator.

"We kicked VenomMyotismon's butt a few hours ago!" Yelled Izzy.

"Oh damn..." Omekamon sighed under his breath. "That's great news!" He fake cheered.

"Hey, hurry up and get over here. We've got a surprise for you!" Izzy laughed. The two boys then saw Omekamon say something to the 300 digimon behind him, and then started to run forward towards the hero tamers, who were a few hundred feet and a few hundred yards away. The monster clammered up the steep hill where the team was located, stumbling a few times along the way, but got there within a few minutes nevertheless.

"How did you defeat him?" Omekamon gasped as he rolled over onto the flat rock where the destined were relaxing.

"Agumon digivolved to mega." Hakase responded for the two boys. He had begun to check on Koromon's vitals while Izzy was checking on Terriermon, and had then come over to greet his fellow Shichiri villager.

"Way to go." Omekamon smiled. "What did he become, ShineGreymon?"

"A WarGreymon." Upon Hakase's words, Omekamon's jaw dropped farther than any human or digimon's should, and he had to stop himself from hyperventilating in order to speak again.

"C-c-can you say that again?" He gasped.

"Agumon digivolved into WarGreymon." Hakase chuckled. Omekamon then dashed past the five humans and digimon to Koromon, who he lifted up excitedly.

"Did you really become a WarGreymon?" Omekamon asked anxiously.

"Yeah..." Koromon stared at the champion with a confused and concerned look on his face.

"Oh Yggdrasil... can you show me!?" A huge smile had formed on the lego's face.

"I'm kind of tired." Koromon stated obliviously.

"Please Koromon please!" He had to force himself to not hop up and down.

"Hey, calm down Omekamon." Tai pulled his concerned partner out of the excited Omekamon's grip and pulled him into his arms. "He can show you later, let him rest right now. Don't know why it's so important to you anyway..." Tai muttered this last sentence as he walked away. Omekamon gave into a depressed mood for a second and then turned to Izzy.

"Why would you tell me about WarGreymon if I wouldn't be able to see him?" Omekamon half growled.

"I didn't really know you cared, and that's not what I wanted to show you." Izzy replied.

"Then what is it?"

"Them." Eric pointed to Omekamon's left, where Matt and T.K. were sitting quietly with their partners, watching the scene with the champion unfold. Omekamon looked past the two digidestined brothers to Rika and Taomon, who were guarding a large bubble full of something that he could not make out from where he was standing.

"What is...?" Omekamon walked closer, past Matt and T.K. to where Rika and Taomon were standing, and then gasped loudly. "The tamers!"

"Mhm." Rika nodded with pride; not for herself but for her partner, who had completed the in-the-past impossible task. The five tamers were sitting in the bubble angrily while their partners lay in exhaustion near the edges of the large sphere, having tried for the last few hours to escape Taomon's trap.

"There's only five of them, where are Koichi and Henry?" Omekamon scanned the orb with glee and sorrow.

"We don't know what happened to Henry, but he wasn't with them, and he's not in that mountain." Rika nodded at the rubble that used to be the evil tamers' multi-story base. "Koichi' is over there." She nodded up to a hill a few dozen feet away from them, where Koichi and Keramon stood in silence.

"Why didn't you capture them too?" Omekamon asked with concern.

"He helped us." Taomon replied. "When things were going south, Infermon began attacking Val, and he helped turn the tide of the battle."

"Why would he help us?"

"We're not sure, but once the others get their strength up we are going to find out." Their conversation lasted for a few more minutes, and then the massive champion army arrived. Omekamon began to order his troops to apprehend the five evil tamers who were within the bubble, and the troops set to work. While the seven digidestined and their partners relaxed, the digimon army took Yolei, Ken, Zoe, Kazu, Joe, Mushroomon, Wormmon, Betamon, Hagurumon, and Gomamon down to the base of the hill and began preparations to take them back to Shichiri village, where Hakase would test the effect of the digivices to try and replicate it to save the other tamers from the dark needles.

"So Koromon..." Tai began to speak to his partner while the Shichiri villagers were working. "It looks like the word digidestined doesn't just apply to us humans huh?"

"What do you mean?" The in-training asked, confused.

"You activated the crest of courage, allowing you to evolve to WarGreymon. Just like when my courage activated the crest and evolved you to MetalGreymon. I think that means that we're all digidestined, me, Rika, Izzy, Eric, Matt, T.K., Kari, and all of you digimon."

"How can you be sure?"

"I can't, but I don't think that these crests would just react for anybody." He smiled at his partner, who laughed with relief and happiness.

"Eric." While Koromon and Tai were talking, Matt and T.K. had been conversing as well, prompting the former evil digidestined to go and talk to the digidestined of wisdom for a minute.

"What's up Matt?" The American asked his new ally.

"T.K. told me about what happened in the forest... when Joe and Zudomon attacked."

"He did huh?" Eric replied nervously.

"Yeah. I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?" This was not what Eric was expecting.

"Yes. I know you kind of put him in that situation and everything, but you didn't have a lot of options at the time. And you kept Takeru safe, which is all that matters." He held his hand out to Tentomon's partner.

"Yeah, sure, no problem. I'd do it again."

"Huh?"

"Not- put him in a situation like that again, but save him if he needed help."

"Oh. Thanks." They shook each other's hands hardily. "Hey, T.K. wanted to know, how you stopped Joe."

"He was there, I thought he-"

"He said he was kind of disoriented when it happened, so he wasn't paying a lot of attention to how it happened so much as the fact that it happened."

"Oh. Well, I just hit Joe here." Eric lifted his head to expose his neck, then took his flattened palm and lightly poked an area in the bridge between the neck and chin. "If you hit this area right here with enough pressure, then it'll stun someone. It's nothing special, just a self defense move."

"Okay then, I'm going to get back to T.K. and Gabumon." Matt nodded his head backwards, then began to walk off.

"Alright." Eric shrugged, then turned around to sit back down next to his exhausted insect partner. Something caught his attention, however.

"Koichi." Kari was standing a few feet behind the evil tamer, who was standing with his arm partially extending into the air oddly. Keramon was curled up on the ground, seemingly asleep. "I wanted to thank you for helping my brother. I don't think Agumon could have evolved if it wasn't for your help." The boy turned his head around to look at the girl, but did not speak.

"Kari!" Eric ran up the slope to the girl's side. "What are you doing?"

"I was just thanking him for helping us." Kari responded innocently.

"We were going to do that later, remember?" He placed his hand on the girl's shoulder, and then turned back towards the rest of the group. "Let's just-" A beep from Koichi's palm interrupted him. Eric turned to see the digivice in the boy's hand flashing wildly. "What the-"

"Now!" Koichi suddenly ordered into the air. His partner then leaped from the ground and hovered in front of Eric and Kari for a few seconds.

"Bug Blaster!" A stream of small energy orbs flew out of the monster's mouth and crashed into Eric's chest. The boy flew back with a groan of pain, then rolled down the hill, landing at it's base with a thud. This caught the attention of the other tamers (and waking up the rest of the sleeping digimon), who turned their eyes to the collapsed teen on the ground.

"Eric!" Kari called to her contemporary, then began to run down the hill towards him. She was stopped however when Keramon pounced on the girl and wrapped his many tentacle-like legs around her arms and chest, restraining her. "Tai!" She managed to yell out before the monster clasped his palm over the girl's mouth.

"Kari!" Tai, Koromon, and Salamon sprang from their seats and began running towards the hill, where Koichi was now raising his digivice into the air. A second later the beeping from Koichi's digivice reached a high pitched volume, and a spark of electricity cracked through the air. More electric sparks then began to sparkle in front of Koichi, and a within a few moments the cracks began to form together to reveal a large, unstable hole into an unidentifiable white void. Koichi smiled, and then jumped in. Keramon leaped in after him, Kari still in his grasp.

"No!" Tai stumbled up the hill, Salamon and Koromon running tiredly behind him. They all jumped into the portal simultaneously, running after the kidnapped girl.

"What just happened?" Eric moaned from his collapsed spot on the ground. Izzy (with his laptop in it's satchel and a tired Terriermon on his shoulder) helped the boy off of the ground, and then pointed to the electrical anomaly, which was beginning to decrease in size. He explained what had just happened quickly, skipping over some irrelevant details. "Oh God." Eric stood speechless for just a second, then with a purposeful look on his face began to run up the hill.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Izzy called to him.

"I promised Tai I wouldn't let anything happen to his sister!" Eric called back. "Tentomon! Are you coming?" He then yelled to his partner.

"You bet!" Tentomon stood up with difficulty, then flew towards the portal after him.

"What if that leads to somewhere uninhabitable?" Izzy screamed to the two just before they jumped into the portal.

"I don't think Koichi would have willingly gone somewhere where he couldn't have survived." Eric speculated, then leaped into the portal blindly with Tentomon.

"Matt, come on!" T.K. (with a tired Patamon resting partially in his backpack) tugged on his brother's arm, who remained skeptical of T.K.'s pleads. "We need to help Kari!"

"T.K., what if it's not safe?" He asked nervously.

"The digital world isn't safe, that didn't stop Tai and Kari from doing the right thing, now let's go!" He pulled on his brother's arm with surprising strength.

"Okay, Gabumon?" He looked to his beaten partner, who had the strength to run a short distance. The two-legged wolf-dog nodded, and then the four made a dash up the hill, leaping into the portal after their friends.

"Guys!" Izzy tried to call to them, but his efforts were fruitless. "Crap." He turned to Rika. "The evil tamers have the ability to evolve to ultimate, and if someone isn't here to make sure they don't do that, then we'll be in trouble when we come back."

"You go. They need your brain more than my fists anyway." Rika smiled uncomfortably.

"Okay then." Izzy ran up the hill, leaping into the ever shrinking portal.

"Hakase." Rika turned to the genius rookie. "They might need your help to get back from wherever they're going."

"I agree. We'll be back soon. I promise." Hakase dashed up the hill, leaping into the portal after them.

"Wait!" Omekamon then bounced up the rocky path, trying to go after them. The now tiny portal closed before could reach the top, however. "No."

"It looks like they're on their own." Rika sighed.

"May Yggdrasil help them." Said Taomon.


	35. Welcome to Wonderland

**Chapter Thirty Five: Welcome to Wonderland**

**File Island, Five Months ago**

"Keramon, this way!" Gabumon broke off of the main path and dove into the thick jungle, dragging his lanky friend with him. The humanoid dog, an oval yellow creature with an alternating light blue/dark blue coat and a sharp yellow horn on his head, fought viciously through the jungle until he could no longer hear the sounds of someone chasing him.

"They're gone." Keramon reassured the rookie as both of them breathed heavily from running through the jungle at breakneck speeds.

"But we lost Matt and Koichi, and Yolei and Mushroomon!" Gabumon objected to his friend's relief.

"If Matt and Koichi were captured, we would know about it. And don't worry, they won't let anything happen to Yolei and Mushroomon. They're all going to be okay, let's just get to that cave that Leopardmon told us about." The virus began to walk forward. "I think it was this way." Keramon began to push his way through the dense brush, and Gabumon reluctantly followed. They kept walking for a few minutes, only stopping when they heard a twig snap a few feet away.

'Did you here that?" Gabumon whispered, his body tensing into a statue pose.

"Yeah, be quiet." Keramon pulled his fist behind his head, then slowly reached for a bush branch near the sound. He wrapped his palm carefully around the thorny appendage, and was startled when a small, pinkish ball rolled out into the miniature clearing they were standing in. Both digimon jumped back in shock, but quickly calmed down when they realized who was lying before them.

"Tokomon?" Gabumon was taken aback by the presence of the in-training, who was supposed to be with Koromon and the others under the care of Elecmon. "What are you doing here?"

"Gabumon!" The young monster leaped into the older creature's arms, who held him close to his chest. "I'm so glad you found me."

"Tokomon why aren't you with Elecmon?" Keramon asked the tiny digimon held by Gabumon.

"He was taking us all to a cave and I got separated." Tokomon had to struggle not to cry.

"I think we're heading there right now, we'll get you there safely." Keramon reassured his small friend.

"Thanks... Where are Matt and Koichi? And Yolei?"

"We got separated, but it doesn't matter. They're safe and they are going to meet us at the cave." Said Gabumon to his passenger.

"Okay. Thanks for helping me Gabumon. You guys are really good friends, you know that?"

"That's a very nice thing to say Tokomon." He then turned his head to his insect ally. "We need to get going."

"Right." Keramon began to crawl into the forest, and Gabumon quietly ran after him.

**The Data Stream, Now**

"tai... tai..." Taichi Kamiya struggled to open his eyes, the massive headache he had endured during his passage through the gateway keeping him from doing anything strenuous. A high but distance voice fought to wake up the boy, and as Tai regained consciousness, the voice became louder. "tai... Tai... Tai!"

"What!?" Tai sprang his upper body off of what he thought was the ground and rotated his head side to side to observe his surroundings. The headache still dominating his mind, the boy's eyes were still a blur, and could barely make out Agumon's squat, yellow shape before him. "Agumon?"

"Hey Tai."

"What's going on?"

"You have a really bad headache, just like the others."

"Others?" Agumon pointed his index claw to Tai's left. The pre-teen (who's eyesight was beginning to refocus), looked in the direction Agumon was pointing in and trained his eyes on nine blurry images behind him. "Who are..."

"Tai!" A familiar voice called to the boy, who was a few yards away from the rest of the blurry group.

"Izzy?" Tai's eyes began to regain their focus, and he could now see the details of the four boys and six digimon behind him. "Eric, T.K., Matt, Hakase, you all came." Tai then realized that he had know idea where he was. He looked around, examining odd tunnel he was in. He realized that the blurriness was not completely from his own vision problems, as the tube he was in was just a fogged white crystal. He could faintly detect that he seemed to be pulling forward, although only slightly. "Although that begs the question, came where?"

"We're in the data stream." Izzy explained, stumbling over towards the boy due to his own headache.

"What's the data stream?" Tai groaned.

"It's where all data goes when a digimon is destroyed. Their data flows back into the system, i.e. here." Izzy waved his arm across the tube.

"So, where we destroyed?" Tai became concerned.

"No, we jumped in here through a portal. We aren't dead, we're just guests."

"Aeneas on the river Styx." Eric rubbed his temple, trying to counteract his headache by opposing the outward force of the blood in his head.

"Not now dude." Izzy said to the boy, who was sitting on the curve of the data tube.

"So why would Koichi come- Kari!" Tai's headache had at first distracted him from his task, but now remembered why he had jumped into the portal. "He took Kari!" Tai jumped up too fast, and stumbled back onto his knees.

"Tai, be careful, you're headache is too dominating right now. You need to recover."

"My sister..." Tai groaned.

"Don't worry Tai, he can't get too far ahead of us. He's flowing through the stream at the same rate we are, and it's not very easy to walk in this place." Eric tried to reassure the boy. Izzy demonstrated Eric's words by lifting his foot off of the almost ground. His foot pulled slowly out of the mist, even though it seemed as if he was trying to move quickly.

"What do you mean flowing?" Matt asked as he struggled to keep himself steady.

"The data stream is flowing up into the air towards some sort of central hub that connects all of the data streams of the digital world."

"How do you know this?" T.K. asked, sitting down due to the difficulty of balancing himself.

"Check out the window." Eric nodded at the wall behind his cross legged position. T.K. and Matt then turned around and struggled to walk over to the side of the data stream. They looked past the fog and were shocked enough to stumble back, albeit slowly.

"How did we-?" Matt seemed stunned.

"What's going on?" Tai was trying to contain his anxiety towards his kidnapped sister.

"If you look out the bottom of the tube, you can see from there too." Izzy said to the leader. Tai then bent down and pressed his head into the fog. What he saw surprised him. Izzy and Eric were right; they were in a stream of some sort, but it was flowing a few thousand feet above the ground.

"You can see some kind of merging point from over here." Eric pointed to the wall behind him.

"So what does this mean? Why would Koichi run away to here and take Kari with him?" Asked Matt. Tai tensed at these words but restrained himself.

"Don't worry Tai, we'll find her." Agumon reassured his partner.

"He could be trying to return to the human world." Izzy speculated.

"How would he do that?" T.K. was taken aback by Izzy's apathetic explanation.

"Why would Koichi take my sister and try to run back home?" Tai growled. "And how could he even do that in the first place?"

"The data stream is how we got here Tai." Eric spoke. "Remember what Babamon said?"

"About what?"

"About how the data stream is the portal between the human world and the digital world"

"I don't remember." Tai replied in an irritated voice.

"You were right there with us when she said it. You, me, Kari, and T.K."

"I don't remember her saying anything like that." T.K. objected.

"What!? Were me and Kari the only ones who payed any attention to what Babamon was saying?"

"Apparently." Matt muttered under his breath.

"Should it matter? You guys aren't going back anyway right?" Terriermon asked from his partner's shoulder. "At least, not until you free the other tamers of their dark needles."

"We're not going anywhere until your world is safe Terriermon, I promise. But the bigger question is why did Koichi attack VenomMyotismon, and then kidnap Kari and escape into the data stream?" Said Izzy.

"Yeah, if he knew about it already, why wouldn't he just try to leave instead of pissing off VenomMyotismon first? There was always a risk that we would lose." Eric speculated.

"We never knew." Said Matt.

"Huh?"

"Devimon (and Myotismon) never told us about the data stream. I just learned about it from you guys." He replied.

"Then how would Koichi know about it? And why would he take Kari here?" Tentomon asked as he hovered above the difficult-to-navigate floor.

"Val must have told my friends after you guys captured me. He must have told them just in case something happened while he was in outrage mode." Matt pondered.

"That still doesn't explain what the hell he's doing, and why he took my sister." Tai sighed with worry. "And why do you digimon have all this energy?" His question addressed the fact that the six digimon who had just endured a massive battle with Val were all refreshed and recharged, and the fact that Agumon was now at rookie again.

"The data stream gives energy to digital entities who use data as their main source of power. Us digimon, who have lived this way all of our lives, were boosted by diving into a stream of pure energy." Hakase explained. "But you humans, who had to adjust to this type of power in the first place, only got a bad headache."

"You should have seen what this place did to Izzy's computer." Patamon laughed. "Only Agumon and Hakase can touch it now." He nodded his head to the floor next to Matt and T.K., where a laptop in a leather sack sat within the mist. It's most notable aspect was that it was almost completely red, and seemed to release a light steam. "And it's not even on."

"That sucks Izzy. Does it still work?" Tai inquired.

"I'm too afraid to check. I don't want to do anything that will risk frying my hard drive." He said depressingly.

"Same thing almost happened to my phone, but I was able to take the battery out before it burned a hole in my pants." Eric retorted.

"So what do we do now? Just wait to catch up to Koichi in that hub ahead of us?" Salamon, who was standing a few feet ahead of everybody, asked.

"That's all we can do. Trying to catch up to him on foot would just waste too much of our energy." Eric replied.

"If the data stream replenishes the digimon's power, then why can't we waste the energy anyway. Won't it not matter?" Asked Matt.

"It wouldn't replenish you human's energy," Said Hakase, "And you wouldn't be able to help your partners evolve."

"We'd be helpless against Koichi and Keramon, and we'd never get Kari back." Eric stated solemnly.

"Wait." Tai, who was sitting on the ground now with his head between his hands, lifted his cranium and spoke. "If the data stream leads to the human world, then once Koichi gets to that central hub, then won't he be able to escape?"

"No, not until the hub overflows." Izzy stated as if he assumed Tai knew what he was talking about.

"What?"

"The hub is just a gathering place for energy until enough data gathers into it, and then it ruptures to let out the data back into the digital world. During this time a portal opens up between the digital world, the data stream, and the human world."

"According to who?" Tai was confused by Izzy's extensive knowledge of the complicated digital plane.

"Me." Hakase raised his claws. "I've studied this world extensively, I know almost all of it's unique mechanics."

"So once the gathering point absorbs too much energy, the data will break a hole in the digital world to pour the energy back, and going into the portal through the opposite way will lead us back home." Eric explained.

"If we go to the human world, then how will we get back?" T.K. questioned, concerned. "We only came to the digital world by accident anyway."

"That's why we have to stop Koichi before the hub overflows with energy, or at least get Kari back from him before said event happens." Izzy stated.

"Are you sure we can make it in time?" Asked Agumon.

"Don't worry. From what Hakase's explained to me the hub has to be a lot bigger than it is before the portal will rupture."

"And you're sure about this?" Tai asked.

"Yes. Don't worry Tai, we're going to get her back."

"We're a lot less helpless than when we used to get kidnapped back on File Island." Eric tried to lighten the mood.

"And we have Matt with us this time!" T.K. cheered, much to his older brother's embarrassment.

"But Rika isn't here." Tai sighed. "Why did she stay behind?"

"Someone had to watch the evil digidestined and make sure they didn't try anything while we are gone." Said Izzy.

"Izzy, why would the data stream open up a portal to the digital world if it's right below us? Wouldn't it be better to just open up and let the data spill out?" Matt looked confused.

"Technically, we're not in the digital world anymore." The genius explained. "We're in some sort of intermediate between the digital world and the next plane."

"Plane?" Tai, Matt, T.K., and Eric were all confused at Izzy's response.

"Hakase explained it to me, it's very complicated." Izzy directed the attention to the reptilian scientist, who looked nervous under all the attention. Thankfully, Salamon now had something to say.

"We're getting close." The digimon said with hope as she sniffed the air in front of her.

"How do you know?" Tai sparked cheerfully.

"I can smell Kari. We're getting really close to her as we speak."

"You sure?" Matt inquired the cat-dog.

"She's right." Gabumon answered his partner. "I can smell Keramon ahead of us. I'd recognize his scent anywhere."

"Then let's get ready, because Koichi probably won't be too happy to see us once we get there." Tai stood up with a determined look on his face. His partner then stood up next to him with an equally purposeful look.

"Hey Tai." Matt called to the leader, ending the dramatic moment and causing a partial comical one as he waded his way over to the goggle head.

"What is it Matt?"

"Listen, I know Koichi and Keramon a lot better than you guys. I know how they think and how they fight."

"What's your point?"

"I think you should let me and Gabumon distract Keramon and Koichi while you guys save Kari."

"That's noble of you Matt."

"But it wouldn't be very wise for only one digimon to fight him while there are five able bodied monsters here." Izzy examined Matt's plan. "We should split into two groups to try and save Kari."

"What do you mean 'try'?"

"He's right." Eric put out the angry spark before it could catch ablaze. "Izzy, T.K., Patamon, and Terriermon can help Matt distract Koichi while Tai, Salamon, Hakase, Agumon, Tentomon, and myself get Kari away from him."

"Okay, but we all need to be really careful." Said Matt. "In terms of physical strength Koichi and Keramon were the strongest team we had."

"We're here!" Salamon announced, looking ahead in the tunnel. The other bodies in the tunnel then looked down the crystal white path, where their eyes met an equally bright opening where the group of 12 was about to be spilled into the large data stream hub. A trio of dark silhouettes in the distance indicated that Koichi, Keramon, and Kari were still within the hub. The digidestined were soon poured into the hub where they were swept off to the side of the cylindrical merging point. All of them then quickly scrambled to their feet so they could confront the evil tamer.

"Tai!" Kari cheered to her brother before Keramon noticed the tamers and wrapped his tentacles around the girl's mouth and appendages.

"Kari!" Tai leaped forward in a threatening pose, but Matt and Eric held him back.

"We're going to get her back Tai, just calm down and remember the plan." Eric calmed the leader down.

"Hello there Tai." Koichi flashed a demonic smile at the goggle headed boy.

"Give us back his sister Koichi!" Matt ordered his former friend, leaping in front of Tai to take the evil tamer's attention away from his current foe.

"Now why would I follow the advice of a traitor?"

"I'm not a traitor, I'm just not being controlled anymore."

"Are you sure about that? Because it seems like you're just doing whatever these guys ask you to do."

"I'm atoning for what I did." While Matt and Koichi exchanged angry remarks at each other, Tai, Eric, their partners, and Salamon had broken away from the rest of the group and were slowly circling Koichi and Keramon, who failed to spot the five slow moving figures.

"How is this going to work?" Agumon whispered. "Keramon has Kari, so we can't just attack him."

"We're going to have to get Koichi's digivice." Eric responded in the same quiet tone. "That way Keramon will be helpless to defend himself against all of you. It shouldn't be too hard to sneak up on him and attack from behind so he releases Kari."

"I'm not putting my sister in any more danger than she's already in Eric." Tai hissed.

"We won't. If Tentomon and Agumon distract Keramon then once we've taken Koichi's digivice, Gabumon or Patamon could attack from behind. It wouldn't harm Kari and there wouldn't be any room for things to go south. He* can't digivolve if we take Koichi's digivice and he can't defend himself if he is hit by a sneak attack."

"It still sounds really risky." Tentomon said concerned.

"But if there aren't that many options, then I guess we don't have a choice." Tai expressed. "Just be really careful nothing happens to her." He said to the American.

"Don't worry. Now we need someone to go and grab his digivice."

"I can do it." Salamon whispered.

"Can you do it without him knowing until the last second?"

"I can do it better than anyone else could, and that's all that should matter."

"Okay then, get to it." With that, Salamon then sunk to the ground and began to prowl over to Koichi, making sure that most of her white-tan body was covered by the mist from the floor of the data stream hub.

"Do you really think you're on the right side?" Matt yelled to his former comrade a dozen feet away. "You just kidnapped a little girl!"

"Believe me Matt, this place is a lot safer for her than the digital world." Koichi scoffed.

"So what, you're going to return her home?" Matt was confused about what Koichi was saying.

"No. I don't really care about her well being, I was just stating a fact. But she's already served my purpose, I don't really need her anymore." Koichi then snapped his fingers, and Keramon rose into the air and threw the eight year old through the air towards Matt, Izzy, and T.K.

"Kari!" Both Tai and Salamon blew their covers and started leaping through the difficult-to-walk-on floor towards Kari. They both leaped into the air towards Kari once they had reached where she was going to land and almost crashed into each other to catch the girl. Salamon knocked her into Tai's arms, who then landed on the ground with a thud.

"Tai!" Kari wrapped her arms around her brother in a tight hug. She pulled Salamon into the hug as well once the cat-dog arrived.

"Why would you..." Matt was stunned at Koichi's merciful action.

"Why would I what? Let her go? Because I didn't need her anymore. She served the purpose of bringing you all here." Koichi smiled triumphantly.

"You led us here on purpose?"

"That's right..." Koichi let out a small laugh.

"Why would you lead us here?" Eric asked from behind the evil digidestined. "There's no benefit for you."

"Yeah, all that will happen is we'll return to the digital world." Tentomon agreed.

"You're forgetting something." Koichi chuckled.

"What? The human world? Why would you take us there?" Izzy growled.

"Not the human world..." Koichi mumbled.

"If he takes us out of the digital world, then there won't be anyone to help Rika and Renamon stop the evil tamers if they were to escape." Tentomon came to a realization.

"Huh! Very good." Koichi patronized.

"It wouldn't matter anyway!" Said Izzy. "We made a promise to help the digital world, and to free you and the rest of the evil tamers. I'm sure Leopardmon would find a way to bring us back!"

"You really don't know how the digital world works, do you?" Koichi smiled.

"What do you mean?" Tai, now involved in the conversation after helping his sister safely behind the rest of the digidestined, growled. Koichi then preceded to mock one of the tamers.

"Oh, what am I going to do? My brother was only gone for ten minutes and now he's evil." He mocked in a high pitched voice. Everyone but Matt looked to T.K., who had said these words in a less pathetic way back on File Island. "Didn't you ever wonder why you've been here for a year Matt, and yet your brother hadn't aged a day when you first saw him?"

"I didn't..." Matt's thoughts began to race as a look of sheer pleasure came across Koichi's face.

"Time moves a lot faster in the digital world you idiots. Ten minutes on Earth is an entire year in the digital world," He then looked to his watch, "And in about ten seconds my friends are going to have all the time they need to find the power to dominate the digital world."

"How would you know?" Eric asked/growled in an insulted voice.

"What are you talking about?" Izzy yelled, but was soon answered, when the data bubble began to rumble.

"The hub is about to rupture!" Hakase cried.

"It doesn't matter! We'll get back to the digital world regardless of what Koichi says!" Eric yelled back as he and Tentomon struggled to rejoin the rest of the digidestined.

"No you won't." Koichi commented in a soft voice. A second later large lightning bolts began to crash into the edges of the hub from the center, where a small portal similar to the one that formed near the evil tamer's base had opened. Then the portal suddenly expanded to the edges of the hub, engulfing all of the digidestined and Hakase before anyone could do anything about it. The portal dragged all 15 of them into a light so bright that they had to shield their eyes to see where they were. As the hero digidestined looked around their new location, they could see that the mist that had once covered the bright white walls and floors were now gone, although none of them could tell if there was even a floor to stand on anymore. In the distance, the digidestined could also make out thin, black lines flying through the air, though no one could make out their true shape or purpose. Koichi (who's eyes adjusted to their new surroundings first) then stood up with his partner, and laughed. "Welcome to Wonderland."

"Where are we?" Tai growled back. He was the second person (along with Agumon) to regain their bearings. Matt and Gabumon soon followed, standing up and joining their ally, while the rest of the digidestined struggled to adjust to their surroundings.

"We're in a magical place where the bad guy always wins Tai." Koichi laughed.

"You're going to tell us how to get back to the digital world!" Matt yelled at the black haired boy.

"And why would I do that?"

"Because if you don't we're going to make you!" Tai and Matt were thinking along the same wavelength.

"You two?" Koichi laughed. "That'll be the day."

"This isn't the same situation as before Koichi." Eric, who had recovered the blinding light, stated as he helped his partially blinded partner to his feet. "We aren't the ones outnumbered and outmatched this time."

"You can't stop all of us!" T.K. yelled bravely, as he helped Patamon, Kari, and Salamon to their feet.

"That's right Koichi." Tai smiled as Izzy and Terriermon pulled themselves off of the ground. "We'll defeat you as a team."

"Give it your best shot." Was his overconfident response.

**"Agumon, warp digivolve to... MetalGreymon!"**

**"Gabumon, warp digivolve to... WereGarurumon!"**

**"Tentomon, warp digivolve to... MegaKabuterimon!"**

**"Terriermon, warp digivolve to... Rapidmon!"**

**"Salamon, warp digivolve to... Angewomon!"**

**"Patamon, warp digivolve to... MagnaAngemon."**

"Those six against Keramon?" Koichi chuckled. "You have to at least present me with a challenge. Go now!" His instructions were meant for his partner, who immediately leaped into the air.

**"Keramon, warp digivolve to... Infermon!"**

"Giga Blaster!"

"Horn Buster!"

"Rapid Fire!"

"Celestial Arrow!" The four ultimates who could quickly launch a special attack fired at Infermon immediately as he digivolved, creating a huge cloud of smoke over the hopefully defeated monster. Their hopes were broken, however, when Infermon spun out of the cloud and landed on the ground without a scratch.

"You think you can defeat me that easily? This is my element!" Infermon laughed, then raced towards the six, who were ready to defend.

"His element? What is he talking about?" Tai asked the three smartest teammates behind him.

"I don't even know where we are." Izzy sighed. "We were supposed to return to either the digital world or the human world when we passed through that portal, but this doesn't look like either one of them."

"So maybe this place is some sort of intermediate." Eric speculated, then had to leap back as one of the thin black lines suddenly sped past him, almost severing the boy in half. "Holy crap."

"What is that?" T.K. quivered.

"I guess someone isn't too happy that we're here." Said Matt.

"We need to catch one and figure out what they are." Hakase suggested.

"Yeah, good luck with that." Eric retorted. Hakase sighed, realizing that these black strings were too dangerous to be caught by the humans, and then began observing the endless white void they were in. He spotted one of the black lines speeding to their left, and quickly leaped towards it, pouncing on the unknown object fiercely. He kept the struggling object pinned down with his knees and then called Eric and Izzy over to his location.

"There." He stated triumphantly as the two boy's arrived. "Now let's figure out what it is."

"It's computer code." Said Eric.

"Huh?"

"Zeros and ones, see." Eric pointed to the string, which upon closer examination appeared to be a clustered group of the first two numbers in a first grader's academic knowledge.

"Well that's interesting." Izzy gripped the neck of the struggling line (which was indicated by the fact that one end of the cluster was desperately trying to pull away from Hakase) and pulled it out from under the rookie, who was relieved to not have to pin it down anymore. "Primitive..." Izzy began to examine the computer wording closely.

"You can read that?" Eric gasped.

"Yeah." Izzy replied apathetically.

"Why are you surprised?" Tai commented from a few feet away.

"Oh god!'" Izzy suddenly released the string and let it continue into the white void.

"Izzy, why did you let it go?" Hakase yelled at the boy, who seemed very disturbed about what he had just read.

"Celestial Arrow!" Angewomon fired a highly charged beam at Infermon, who leaped away but still caught a slipstream blow to one of his limbs. He seemed unscathed when he landed on the ground, however, even though the six monster's could clearly see the wound on his leg.

"Doesn't he feel that?" MagnaAngemon asked in a calm voice.

"Did you figure out what it is?" Eric asked calmly but still urgently. Izzy did not respond, instead standing there with a look of absolute shock. "Izzy, are you going to answer? Izzy!" He shoved the boy's shoulder, signaling the shocked genius to mutter one sentence that disturbed the rest of the group as much as he.

"It was an e-mail."


	36. The Eye of the Looking Glass

I'm so sorry it took me so long to post this chapter, but I was on vacation, and it's a little difficult to type when you're staring up at Mt. Rushmore and across the Badlands.

**Chapter Thirty Six: The Eye of the Looking Glass**

"Izzy?" Eric shook the shocked boy's arm once again, trying to gain his attention. "Izzy, what do you mean an 'e-mail'?"

"It was... from Yahoo..." Were the best words that Izzy could develop at the time.

"Izzy, e-mails don't have physical bodies, they're just data." Izzy then gave him an obvious look. "Oh, right."

"What's an e-mail?" Hakase inquired, confused about Izzy's revelation instead of surprised like Eric.

"So how could that have been an e-mail?" Asked Eric.

"I don't... I don't know. It's impossible. Unless..." Izzy drifted off into thought.

"Unless what?"

"Unless we're in the... but that doesn't make any sense." Izzy wasn't paying attention to the two entities at his side begging for answers.

"What doesn't make any sense?" Eric sighed loudly, trying to gain the genius' attention.

"I think we might be... in the Internet."

"Excuse me?" Obviously Eric had a problem with Izzy's answer. "How can we be... are you on drugs or... It's just not possible that we would-"

"Just here me out!" Izzy cut his friend off before the boy could get into his rant. "There needs to be some sort of intermediate between our world and the digital world, and the digital world is nothing but a dimension just like ours that uses computer data combined with energy. Computer data is artificial, so the digital world needs a source of this type of power in order to work the way it does."

"And that source would be the Internet?"

"Yeah!"

"So we came to the digital world through the Internet?"

"Exactly."

"That sounds crazy."

"Crazier than a world where computer data is the main source of energy and is used to pack years of growth and development into one energy packed second?"

"I guess not."

"Howling Blaster!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Giga Blaster!"

A trio of WereGarurumon, MagnaAngemon, and MetalGreymon fired devastating attacks at Infermon, who narrowly dodged the triad of blasts, which burned past him and slammed into an invisible wall behind the sneaking computer virus.

"My turn..." Infermon smiled, and then dropped to the invisible ground and spun around so that he was facing the three digimon who had attacked him, who were now joined by MegaKabuterimon, Angewomon, and Rapidmon. "Spider Shooter!" He fired a deadly cannon blast at the six monsters in the air, who quickly scattered to dodge the dangerous move. Infermon did not relent, however. Immediately after attacking he leaped back into the air and pounced towards the first opponent he saw, Angewomon. "Network Grenade!" His voice trailed behind his body as he sped like a missile towards the exposed angel, who was focused on arriving at her predetermined position and did not see him coming.

"Angewomon!" MagnaAngemon did witness what was happening however, and quickly pivoted in the air and flew back towards his comrade, who turned just in time to see the monster's demonic horn drive toward her gut.

"Horn Buster!" Centimeters before impact, a jolt of electric power surged into Infermon and blasted him across the room (if that's what their location could be called) and slammed him into the invisible floor.

"Are you okay Angewomon?" MagnaAngemon asked unnervingly as he rushed to meet the female angel and MegaKabuterimon.

"I'm fine, he barely missed me. Thank you MegaKabuterimon." She sighed to the red monster hovering above her and MagnaAngemon.

"It's no problem, just be more careful next time." He muttered as he flew past the two archangels to join MetalGreymon, WereGarurumon, and Rapidmon, who had congregated around Infermon. Angewomon and MagnaAngemon followed.

"You can't handle all of us." The three heard MetalGreymon announce to Infermon as they arrived. The virus was struggling to stand up in between all of his enemies.

"We'll see about that." Infermon laughed painfully.

"No we wont! Giga Blaster!" Massive fish missiles fired from MetalGreymon's chest, and the others joined his attempt at a final attack.

"Howling Blaster!" A blast of blue fire flew from WereGarurumon's mouth.

"Rapid Fire!"

"Horn Buster!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

Infermon wasn't lying. As soon as the six attacks were seconds from connecting, the sly digimon slipped up into the air and spun his body around like a disc, aiming his new weapon form towards MegaKabuterimon, who did not see the attack coming due to the bright electricity flowing from his horn. Before the others could warn him, the super fast Infermon disc sliced through the air and slammed into MegaKabuterimon's chest, tossing him across the floor into a pile of exoskeleton and limb a dozen yards away.

"Celestial Arrow!"

"Excalibur!"

Angewomon and MagnaAngemon were the quickest to respond. They soared through the air with their heavy white wings to attack Infermon before he could slow down, but apparently the monster had already expected retaliation, and as soon as he had slammed into MegaKabuterimon's chest he had turned around to deliver a dangerous blow to those who had decided to rebel against him: Angewomon and MagnaAngemon. The two were dealt a painful blow to their chests, and were both thrown backwards away from the rest of the group, who had all returned to their battle positions to continue what was now an increasingly difficult mission.

"Patamon!"

"Salamon!"

T.K. and Kari ran over to comfort their partners, who had landed only a few feet away. Eric, in the meantime, had broken away from his conversation with Izzy and Hakase and was now pulling the defeated Tentomon back to the main group.

"He's stronger than before." WereGarurumon spoke ominously as he, MetalGreymon, and Rapidmon gathered at a point in between Infermon and their partners.

"What?" Was MetalGreymon's worried response.

"The last time I saw Infermon he wasn't nearly as strong as he is now. He was just a little stronger than the rest of us in combat practice."

"Or maybe that's just what I wanted you to think?" Infermon gave a condescending laugh from across the pure white room, then ducked to avoid a possibly painful e-mail that whizzed right past his head. "I'm stronger than all of the digidestined combined, you idiot."

"We'll you're just full of surprises aren't you?" MetalGreymon growled at his adversary.

"That I am." Infermon chuckled.

"Well I'll tell you one digimon that I can guarantee that you're not stronger than."

"And who would that be?" Infermon then heard a beep behind him, and glanced back for a split second to check what it was. He saw that Tai had pressed the lone button on his digivice, and had a wide grin on his face. "What the-" Infermon turned back around and gasped. A massive skull dragon now stood where MetalGreymon once was, and WereGarurumon and Rapidmon were standing behind him with cheery looks on their face.

"Me." SkullGreymon, the more powerful yet very unstable dark version of Agumon replied.

"Myotismon never told me about you." Infermon tried not to stutter. Koichi, who stood about a few hundred feet away from the battle, was equally stunned.

"I imagine he wouldn't." SkullGreymon then swung his massive fist down on the weaker monster.

"That's... impressive." Matt gasped from the sidelines.

"Thank you." Tai replied smugly.

"How did he- learn how to do that?"

"It's a long story, but the moral of it is don't be stupid enough to give your enemies some of your power, because it usually ends up biting you in the butt." Tai chuckled. The battle was quickly turning in their favor. SkullGreymon was pounding his heavy bone fists into Infermon, who's futile attempts to absorb the physical attacks and roll backwards were resulting in horrible bruises across the monster's red and white body.

"It wouldn't even matter though." Said Matt. "Even if you didn't have this form of MetalGreymon, Agumon can digivolve to mega now."

"It's better this way though." Eric gasped as he heaved his heavy exoskeleton covered partner back to the rest of the digidestined. "There hasn't been a lot of time since he first evolved to mega. If he tried it again so soon, he might not even be able to do it, and if he did he probably wouldn't be at full strength."

"We never had that problem when we were working for Devimon." Matt replied as SkullGreymon delivered a crushing heel into Infermon's armored belly. The skull dragon didn't even need to use special attacks to take care of the quickly tiring enemy. "Although, when you're constantly being fueled by an evil needle that takes over your nervous system, I think this alternative is a much better choice."

"We should help in the battle." WereGarurumon growled in a low voice.

"Why? SkullGreymon's got a handle on it." Rapidmon observed obliviously.

"Not for long. I don't think SkullGreymon has complete control of himself. Look at him." WereGarurumon nodded over to the battle. It was true. SkullGreymon seemed to be beating Infermon senselessly alright, but in a manner that was more brutal than purposeful. SkullGreymon seemed to be toying with his enemy more than trying to defeat him.

"Okay then." Rapidmon nodded, then took off into the air. WereGarurumon quickly followed the rabbit-dog.

"Spider Shoo-" Infermon tried launch cannon fire at the monster that was pulverizing him, but SkullGreymon wouldn't have it. He shoved his bony fist into Infermon's face and almost knocked the spider's jaw in half.

"SkullGreymon!" A call from behind signaled the monster to stop the beating and turn his head for a second, where he saw his two remaining allies running up to his side.

"You guys should go back, I can handle him." The dragon instructed with an odd lust in his eyes.

"We think you might need a little help SkullGreymon." Rapidmon replied warily.

"What? That's ridiculous, I'm beating him senseless!" Was SkullGreymon's confirming response.

"That's the problem," WereGarurumon replied calmly, "All you're doing is toying with him. You don't seem to have full control over what you're doing."

"That's nonsense!" SkullGreymon snapped back. "I-"

"Koichi!" Infermon was suddenly back on his feet, and had edged himself closer to his partner. "I think we need to stop toying around with them." His call to his partner put a shudder through the three hero ultimate's spines.

"You? Toy with us?" SkullGreymon was offended by this ludicrous claim.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. So much for stalling you guys." Koichi sighed, and then activated his digivice.

"What's he doing!?" Came the panicked response from everyone else in the white room. They were all answered very quickly.

**"Infermon digivolve to... Diaboromon!"**

Everyone stood in awe. The most diabolical monster they had ever seen towered five stories above them. Three ferocious orange claws lay out on each of the puke yellow monster's feet, a similar set of five extending from blue armor plates around the monster's wrists. His feet and hands were attached to the rest of his body by incredibly long and slender appendages, where the skinny demon looked as if all that rested within his body was his spine and skull. A blue armor chest piece covered the starved looking creature, while two massive blue shoulder pads held Diaboromon's lanky arms. A green orb was embedded in the creature's chest, and a large orange horn ejected from his back. But his horrid face cast fear over everyone in that room (except for Koichi) that was more intense than when they layed eyes on VenomMyotismon. It was simple, but demonic. A dark blue diamond held tufts of yellow hair and two mostly horizontal horns that spread like the horrid wings of a demon, and his intense yellow eyes and blood red mouth cast a spell that spoke death to anyone that came into contact with him.

"I didn't know he could do that." WereGarurumon shuttered.

"We need to act fast before he shakes off his evolution daze." SkullGreymon whispered.

"I'll attack," Said Rapidmon, "You slide evolve and then try and get to mega before he crushes us." The rabbit-dog was addressing SkullGreymon. "Come on WereGarurumon," The armored bunny then leaped into the air, with his new wolf ally by his side. WereGarurumon could not fly so he had to hang onto the Rapidmon's leg.

"Howling Blaster!"

"Rapid Fire!"

In the meantime, SkullGreymon rolled past Diaboromon and arrived back to Tai and the others, who were staring in awe at Infermon's new form.

"Tai, I need to try for WarGreymon." He gasped.

"Do you have the energy?"

"I don't know, but it's our best shot at beating him."

"But what if you wipe out or something when you're trying to digivolve?"

"He shouldn't." Izzy and Hakase had now joined the conversation, and the human genius was talking. "This place is a gold mine for energy. Go ahead and try it."

"Where are we?" Tai responded.

"I'll tell you later." Tai could sense the urgency in Izzy's voice, then looked back at Diaboromon. He had shaken off his daze from digivolving and was now thrashing his violent palms at Rapidmon and WereGarurumon, who were trying their best to dodge in the air and on the ground, respectively.

"Okay, go for it SkullGreymon." He then tapped his digivice.

**"Slide Evolution... MetalGreymon!" **The smaller scale covered dragon appeared a second later, and then sighed before beginning the next stage of his evolution. **"Digivolve to... WarGreymon!" **Izzy was right. The mega that appeared before them was full of energy and did not seem to be in any way exhausted from his two previous battles.

"Go get 'em WarGreymon." Tai patted his partner's arm (he could not reach his shoulder), who smiled and then leaped into the air, aiming for the monstrous Diaboromon that was torturing Rapidmon and WereGarurumon.

"Rapid Fire!" Rapidmon poured a stream of automatic rounds into Diaboromon, who seemed unfazed by Rapidmon's usually devastating attack. Rather, he seemed completely unharmed and all the more motivated to inflict extreme pain on his opponent.

"Cable Crusher." Diaboromon hissed. His right arm then extended dramatically and slammed his palm into Rapidmon's body. The appendage snaked through the air and eventually slammed Rapidmon into the invisible wall. The bunny-dog quivered for a moment as Diaboromon retracted his arm, then fell to the ground and degenerated. Diaboromon then turned his full body towards Terriermon and puffed out his chest. "Web Wrecker!" A destructive orb then blasted out of the green orb on Diaboromon's chest and sped towards the helpless Terriermon. Seconds before impact, however, WereGarurumon swooped in and snatched the little digimon from his certain death, and galloped quickly to the group of digidestined, dropping the battered rookie into Izzy's arms.

"Now what?" WereGarurumon sighed to Matt hopelessly.

"That." Came his smiling response. WereGarurumon turned around to see the majestic sight of WarGreymon hovering in the air before Diaboromon, who seemed unimpressed, although the digidestined were not focused on this fact.

"Oh, I'm terrified." Were the evil mega's first sentient words since he had evolved.

"You should be." WarGreymon growled in return, and then rose his arms up into the air. "Terra Force!"

"Wait..." A thought then popped into Eric's head.

"Line Surge!" Diaboromon then began to spin rapidly like he had done as Infermon, only this time he was larger and deadlier. As WarGreymon flung his heavy orb of fire past his eyes (and his field of vision) Diaboromon knocked the ball away harmlessly as if it were an ordinary piece of sports equipment and sliced his deadly claws straight towards WarGreymon, who was only a few feet away.

"Woah!" WarGreymon dropped down quickly, narrowly avoiding a painful slam to the chest from Diaboromon, who continued his deadly spin, curving downwards to get a better angle at which to attack the mega dragon. "He doesn't know who he's up against." WarGreymon smiled. "Great Tornado!" Raising his arms together in the air, the dramon began to spin just as violently as Diaboromon, and aimed his point right towards Diaboromon's chest. The two then collided in a spinning fury, although it was apparent that neither spinning mega currently had the strength to defeat the other, and were both flung to opposite ends of the bright cavern. They slammed into the invisible walls, thankfully avoiding both sets of spectators (the hero digidestined and Koichi).

"That was pathetic." Diaboromon laughed as he pulled himself out of what the group could only assume was rubble. As he departed from the wall, the group could see that there was a slight pull behind Diaboromon's back, indicating that there might be more earthly physical properties than Izzy had originally thought to himself.

"Look who's talking." WarGreymon groaned. "At least I didn't break an imaginary wall!"

"You don't know very much do you?"

"I know enough to defeat you. Terra Force!" The sphere burned through the air and tried to slam into Diaboromon, but the monster prepared himself. He caught the flaming ball of terror and tossed it right back at WarGreymon, who was not ready for such an attack. He only had enough time to brace himself. "Gyah!" WarGreymon cried as his own attack shoved itself into every nook and cranny in his armor. Thankfully the dramon's tough dragon skin protected him from any real damage.

"He's not strong enough to defeat Diaboromon." Eric muttered as the hero digidestined watched Diaboromon and WarGreymon launch themselves from their opposite walls and deliver powerful physical attacks once again.

"What do you mean?" Tai was offended. "Of course he can defeat Diaboromon."

"He's right Tai, Diaboromon's obviously been a mega for a lot longer than it seemed like before." Izzy backed up the tamer of wisdom.

"He probably figured out how to become mega weeks ago and just hid it from me and the rest of the other tamers." Matt observed.

"But... he has to win. WarGreymon is our only hope." Kari supported her brother, who was getting nervous.

"Not anymore Kari. We're going to have to think of another plan." Said Izzy.

"What other plan? There's no other way to beat him," T.K. panicked, "Unless one of the digimon figures out how to evolve to mega, but we don't even know how Agumon did that."

"He realized his courage..." Tai whispered under his breath, out of earshot of the other tamers.

"We can't think about beating him anymore." Eric began. "Koichi only led us in here to distract us long enough so the other evil tamers could escape and do God knows what to the digital world. I say we stop falling for it and find a way out of here."

"The crest of knowledge..."

"The only way to get out is through another data stream portal, and we have know idea where to find another one of those." Hakase replied pessimistically.

"The crest of wisdom..."

"Isn't there some sort of order in the way the data stream works?" Izzy asked the rookie genius. "Shouldn't the gate open and close at certain points?"

"The crest of hope..."

"The data stream is dependent on the actions of those in the digital world. The more data that's broken up from living things the larger the data stream bubble gets. It will only burst once it has reached a certain weight, so depending on the actions of those in the digital world, it could take anywhere from a few seconds to a few years."

"The crest of light..."

"So I guess there was a reason we didn't want to go here in the first place huh?" T.K. asked Hakase. He nodded.

"The crest of..." Tai glanced to Matt, who was involved in the conversation.

"Isn't there some way to open the gate from this side?" Eric inquired. "I mean, if Leopardmon could do it-"

"Leopardmon opened a gate from the digital world to the human world that brought you all here."

"Matt, what does your crest symbolize?" Tai asked the formerly evil tamer, who stared at him with confusion.

"Is that really important right now Tai?" Matt had a stunned look on his face.

"WarGreymon's starting to become disadvantaged, I'm going to help him." WereGarurumon announced, and then leaped away towards the battle, where WarGreymon and Diaboromon were involved in a fist fight, and Diaboromon was winning.

"Yeah but he brought us all from different points in Japan," Eric continued, trying to stay focused on the matter at hand, "So he must have had the ability to open different gates besides the one from the hub."

"But I have no idea how to do that." Hakase sighed.

"Please Matt, it's important." Tai emphasized to Matt with his eyes how urgent the leader thought this issue was.

"It's the crest of friendship." He replied, confused but compliant.

"Half Moon Kick!" WereGarurumon slammed his foot into the back of Diaboromon's skull, who was not expecting the attack from behind. This distracted him long enough for WarGreymon to deliver a punch with his sharp gauntlet claws unopposed. His fist drove into the monster's green gem in the middle of the monster's chest. This was a mistake.

"Gyah!" A surge of energy poured from Diaboromon's chest and electrocuted WarGreymon on the spot.

"I knew you weren't very smart. Web Wrecker!" Diaboromon blasted his powerful cannon point blank in WarGreymon's face, pounding him in the gut and chest, knocking him onto the ground, causing the digimon to groan and vomit, and finally degenerate.

"Agumon!" Tai cried helplessly to his partner.

"No!" WereGarurumon leaped from Diaboromon's shoulder and landed gracefully on the ground. He ran over to the rookie and pulled him off of the ground. The monster was unconscious and his reflexes were forcing him to clutch his ribs. There was no question. Diaboromon had taken care of their only mega.

WarGreymon had been defeated.

WereGarurumon was alone.


	37. What He Found There

**Chapter Thirty Seven: What He Found There**

WereGarurumon was alone.

As an ultimate, Infermon had easily defeated MagnaAngemon, Angewomon, and MegaKabuterimon. As a mega, he had smashed Rapidmon into a wall and knocked the poor creature unconscious. Then came WarGreymon, the hero digidestined's last hope for defeating the demon. Diaboromon hit him point blank with a powerful energy blast and almost killed him. And now the only digimon left to face him was WereGarurumon.

Diaboromon laughed. His overwhelmingly advantageous situation was taking over his thoughts, and he couldn't control his happiness. Once his laughter had been subsided, he slipped an analog clock into his palm from out of nowhere, and took a quick glance at it before slipping it back into his palm.

"It's only been four hours Koichi." The demon sighed as the laughter in his voice subsided.

"Damn..." Koichi muttered, "I had really hoped they would put up more of a fight."

"So what do we do now?" Matt quivered, staring up at the monstrous Diaboromon above, who was conversing with his partner.

"I'll hold him off." WereGarurumon stated solemnly.

"What!" Matt exclaimed with a shaken and worried voice. "That's suicide! He'll tear you apart!"

"We don't have much of a choice." WereGarurumon sighed. "We need to find a way out of here, otherwise Diaboromon is going to destroy us all."

"But Koichi said he was just trying to distract us so that the other evil tamers could escape." T.K. came to his brother's side, with an unconscious Patamon in his arms.

"Do you really think he won't try to destroy us if he gets the chance?" The werewolf asked wisely. This put a frown on both boy's faces. "Exactly. Try to find a way out of here as fast as possible, I won't be able to hold him off for long." He then walked forward slowly, preparing for the one sided battle ahead.

"Be careful WereGarurumon..." Matt whispered.

"Let's not waste any time," Izzy said bluntly, "If we can find a way out of here soon, then maybe WereGarurumon won't have to endure too much damage from fighting Diaboromon."

"Do you have any ideas Hakase?" Eric asked the genius dinosaur, who was sitting on the ground cross-legged while scratching his chin.

"Unfortunately no," Hakase replied to everyone else's dismay, "Although it would help if I knew what in the dark plane the Internet is."

"What does the Internet have to do with anything?" Kari piped from behind Tai.

"That's where we are." Izzy replied obliviously. Tai, Matt, T.K., and Kari's jaws then dropped.

"You want to run that by us again?" Matt quivered.

"We're in the Internet." He responded again with the same apathetic tone. Tai and Matt then turned their heads to Eric, hoping for some answers.

"Don't look at me," He said with a disturbed look in his eyes, "The extent of my knowledge on this comes from an old physics textbook I read one time. Izzy is light years ahead of me on this."

"I'll explain it to you Hakase," Izzy began to walk away from the other humans to where Hakase was sitting. He then dropped into a cross legged position to begin conversing with the clueless genius.

"What's going on Eric, how can we be in the Internet?" Tai asked the semi-stunned tamer to his left.

"I don't know, but it really threw Izzy and Hakase off. They understood the digital world to be directly connected to the human world, and they didn't think there would be another intermediate, especially not the Internet."

"Is there anything you can think of that can help us with all of this, while Izzy is explaining everything to Hakase?"

"I just know about all of this. I don't know how it works. That's Izzy's area of expertise. He knows about computers and physics. I know biology and chemistry, and not nearly as well as Izzy knows his stuff."

"What about your phone?" Kari asked the tamer of wisdom. "Could we use that in some way to contact someone from the digital world or Earth?"

"I'd try to use it but I think it would just overheat like it did in the data stream if I put the battery back in." Eric replied.

"So basically the only hope we have is Izzy and Hakase?" T.K. asked somberly.

"Well I wouldn't put it that way."

"Yeah, Izzy and Hakase are really smart. They'll figure everything out." Kari said with a shred of doubt in her voice.

"I just hope they solve it soon," Tai sighed, looking over his shoulder, "They haven't started fighting yet. I wonder why?"

"The longer they postpone fighting, the better. I hate to say it but WereGarurumon is no match for him." Matt added depressingly.

"Hello, old friend." Diaboromon smiled as WereGarurumon walked slowly up to him. The wolf positioned himself about a dozen feet in front of the monster: close enough to try for an attack but far enough to make an escape if he needed to. "I'm surprised you had the courage to come and face me, after abandoning all of your friends."

"I didn't abandon anyone," WereGarurumon growled in response, "I was freed from the control of the dark needle, just like you will be someday."

"you certainly think very highly of those new friends of yours. Do you ever get suspicious as to why they put so much trust in you and Matt?"

"No. Why?"

"Well you did torture and try to kill them after all, just like the rest of your true allies."

"In case you've forgotten, they used to be your friends too, until Devimon took over Koichi with the dark needle."

"You are wrong about that my friend. The dark needle unleashed our true desires. It did not trap us. It freed us from ridiculous humane emotion."

"I'm sorry you feel that way."

"Don't be."

"I want you to know Diaboromon, that no matter what you do to me, my partner, or our friends, I will try my hardest to free you from this curse."

"You waste your time."

"You are my friend Diaboromon, even if you refuse to admit it. MagnaAngemon and Hakase are my friends, and they saved me and Matt from the power of Devimon. And now, as your friend, I will save you."

"Shut up!" Diaboromon coiled his lanky arm behind him, failing to see the faint glow that was coming from WereGarurumon's chest. "Cable Crusher!" His hand slammed forward, elongating into a ferocious snaking monster. WereGarurumon dodged just in time. He leaped into the air just as Diaboromon's fist crushed the invisible floor underneath the werewolf.

"Howling Blaster!" WereGarurumon boomed a bright sliver of blue energy from his mouth, which snaked into Diaboromon's shoulder with a powerful force. It wasn't powerful enough however. Diaboromon barely felt the attack, even though it seemed to stab into his arm, and then raised his powerful fist for another attack.

"Ayah!" He thrust his fist forward, preparing a regular punch this time.

"Half Moon Kick!" WereGarurumon tried a physical defense this time. His foot bounced off of Diaboromon's knuckles harmlessly, but fortunately it knocked WereGarurumon far enough away that he did not have to suffer any serious damage. WereGarurumon then dropped back to the ground, his momentum gone. He landed softly on his paws, then immediately started running, because Diaboromon was on the offensive.

"Web Wrecker!" An enormous green bubble blasted from the green orb on Diaboromon's chest and whistled through the air towards WereGarurumon. Fortunately the digimon was too fast for the beam, and escaped the attack free of damage.

"Well then..." WereGarurumon breathed lightly. "It looks as if you may be much more powerful than I, but my speed is far beyond your comprehension."

"We'll see about that. Line Surge!" The digimon then began spinning rapidly, his deadly claws slicing through the air as his arms stretched out as far as possible. WereGarurumon leaped away as the spinning demon ravaged towards him, picking up incredible speed in the process. The monster leaned forward so that his deadly arms would have better range, then jumped off of the ground to pounce on WereGarurumon. He was right: Diaboromon was much faster in this form. But WereGarurumon was still faster. WereGarurumon leaped high in the air and dodged the attack, bounding right above the monster as it crashed into the ground. WereGarurumon then gracefully rolled down to the invisible floor over the white abyss and twisted to face his opponent. Upon this action WereGarurumon saw something that terrified him: Diaboromon was smiling.

"Why are you so happy?"

"Because you fell right into my trap." He tried not to laugh.

"What?" WereGarurumon had a mildly stunned look on his face, but it soon transformed into a look of horror. Diaboromon then twisted around so that he was facing towards the hero digidestined, who now had no one in between them and the evil demon.

"Web Wrecker!" A massive green energy orb blasted from his chest, speeding towards the helpless hero digidestined who had only a matter of seconds left.

"No!" WereGarurumon scrambled desperately to run towards his friends. His speed was the most incredible he had ever felt. But it wasn't fast enough. WereGarurumon easily covered the distance towards the bullet, but he could see that the orb was only a second away from the digidestined who were desperately trying to scatter in different directions. WereGarurumon was at least five seconds away from the bullet. It was hopeless. "Tai! Agumon! T.K.! Matt...!"

In that moment, something incredible happened. A bright light ejected from WereGarurumon's chest that was in the shape of a circle with two tails facing opposite directions extending from opposite sides. A curved break in the center of the hollow circle trailed along the floor as WereGarurumon began to pick up unimaginable speed.

**"WereGarurumon digivolve to..."** A bright bullet leaped from the ground and smashed into the green orb that was crashing down on the helpless digidestined. The green orb shattered into a harmless flash of light and scattered into the abyss. Diaboromon staggered backwards in shock as he saw the blue light land on the ground with ease and turn around, facing the surprised demon. As the light faded away, everyone in the cavern (including the especially shocked Koichi from afar) could begin to make out the details of the mega form of Gabumon.

**"MetalGarurumon!"** He was back on all fours, just like his champion form of Garurumon. He was smaller though, but not by much. If he had stood on his hind legs he probably would have been the size of WarGreymon, a foot or so over the size of a human adult. But this wasn't his defining feature. The new form of Gabumon was covered in shining blue and gold armor. It was form fitting, but obviously built for more than protection. Slits and creases in the mostly blue armor indicated that it opened into what was anyone's guess. His golden neck and belly was slick, possibly for speed, and on top of his back were two golden rods that were folded down next two two golden boxes on the monster's shoulder. His golden tail gave him a final, awesome touch: It swung out as a golden rod that transformed into a deadly golden blade halfway down. The only parts of his body that weren't covered in the digital alloy were his four paws, his jaw, and his intense orange eyes.

"No..." Diaboromon tried to overcome his stunned expression, but it was impossible. It wasn't just because there was a new mega he had to deal with. No, this mega would be more than just a match for him. It had just evolved, and as such had much more energy than the average mega. At this moment, he was stronger than Diaboromon.

"I can't believe it..." Matt was sitting in a sprawled position on the ground, having collapsed once he saw his partner collide with the energy bullet that would have killed him otherwise. "How did he...?"

"He realized his friendship." Tai replied, shaken as well by the energy orb but not so much by the evolution.

"What?" Matt was having trouble keeping himself together, but fortunately Tai and Kari had gotten up and helped him to his feet.

"When Agumon digivolved, he used the crest of courage." Tai explained. "That's how they evolve to mega. We help them to ultimate by expressing our crest qualities and they take it one step further by expressing it themselves."

"Incredible." Matt gasped. Koichi did not share the tamer's sentiment. He reflected his partner, who was gaping at the new mega with fear in his eyes.

"No, how did he do that? How do they keep doing this?" Koichi grabbed his hair and pulled tightly, hoping the pain would distract his mind from the horror that was unfolding in front of him. It didn't.

"Well this is a surprise." MetalGarurumon smiled as he stalked slowly towards Diaboromon, who was huddled a few hundred feet away near one of the invisible walls. "Just a few seconds ago you were all but ready to murder me and my friends, and there was no one to stop you. Our only plan was to have me distract you while the others found a way to get us out of here." MetalGarurumon let out a light laugh. "I guess now that's your job."

"MetalGarurumon-" Diaboromon tried to protest.

"Howling Blaster!" MetalGarurumon boomed a blue stream from his mouth that was more powerful than his previous usage of the attack. Diaboromon leaped into the air to dodge, but the blast slammed into his leg and caused the monster to topple over. He fell head first into the ground, and his heavy body crumpled onto his neck, almost snapping it. He recovered however, and warily stood up, ready to fight.

"Cable Crusher!" Diaboromon's arms snapped forward and elongated as it sped towards MetalGarurumon.

"Ice Wolf Bite!" MetalGarurumon then revealed what the panels on this body were for. They opened up to reveal a series of missile launchers all over his body, which all fired in unison and released a crowd of missile, which spun in an organized circle towards Diaboromon, who was too slow to dodge or block the attack. Half of the missile collided with his arms, but instead of exploding in a blaze, they covered the monster's arms in ice, paralyzing Diaboromon's appendages. The rest of the missile crashed into his chest before he had time to dodge and covered his torso, freezing his arms in place. Diaboromon struggled to free himself from the icy prison, but MetalGarurumon was already on the move.

"Half Moon Kick!" The metal wolf leaped into the air an pounced on Diaboromon's shoulder with all fours. It shattered into a thousand pieces and scattered on the ground, bursting into pieces of data that floated away into the bright light. Izzy took his eyes off of the battle for a second to observe that he could faintly see the pieces of data flowing towards where Diaboromon had crashed into the invisible wall after colliding with WarGreymon.

"No!" Diaboromon swung away from MetalGarurumon, who started to fly towards the ground once he had shattered Diaboromon's arm. The demon rolled onto the ground, allowing his other arm to shatter into ice and data in order to escape. But MetalGarurumon was still too fast. As soon as his paws hit the ground he twisted around to face Diaboromon and pounced on his chest, opening his jaw to allow an icy breath form in his mouth.

"Metal Wolf Claw!" A beam of icy energy slammed into Diaboromon's head and trapped the monster in a frozen tomb. MetalGarurumon then leaped off of his chest and ran a few dozen feet away.

"Ice Wolf Claw!" Missiles blasted from his legs and torso, and slammed into Diaboromon's chest. Unfortunately for the demon he was already covered in ice, so the missile had a more devastating effect. Instead of freezing him even more, they exploded on contact and covered Diaboromon in a light gray dust. When it settled, everyone could see Keramon lying on the ground, unconscious but with all his body parts intact.

"No...!" Koichi screamed to himself as he fell to his knees. Across the room, MetalGarurumon had walked up to Keramon and grabbed the digimon's neck with his jaws carefully. He then turned around and walked mildly towards Koichi, who was frozen in fear after seeing MetalGarurumon's relentless power. When MetalGarurumon was only a few feet away from the evil tamer, he dropped the unconscious rookie in front of the boy who, after standing paralyzed like a deer caught in the headlights for a few seconds, scooped up the battered digimon into his arms and backed away quickly.

"How do we get out of here?" He growled to the tamer. Koichi couldn't respond. He was shaking too wildly. "I said, how do we get out of here?" This was more of a demand than a request. Koichi stood there shaking for a few more seconds, and then finally gained a shred of bravery to speak.

"Y-you c-c-c-can't..." He stuttered while inching away from the deadly wolf.

"What do you mean!" MetalGarurumon pulled his throat into this question, making him sound even more dangerous.

"I mean you c-can't leave un-til the h-h-hub of the data stream bursts a-again." Koichi was struggling not to hyperventilate.

"Leopardmon opened up seven portals at once, twice. He never told us how he did that, but I'm betting Myotismon did after he digivolved to mega."

"N-n-no, he didn't."

"Give me one reason to believe you."

"Because if he did... I would have found a way out of here when you first digivolved." A slight cockiness arouse in Koichi's voice. This was a horrible mistake.

"You would abandon your partner!" Koichi collapsed onto his bottom as MetalGarurumon pounced over him, shoving his snout just a few inches in front of Koichi's face. "Yggdrasil, that dark needle really has done a number on you hasn't it?" He calmed down and backed away, but Koichi didn't move. He was still too terrified. "Don't worry though. Now that we've got you alone, I'm sure Hakase will find a way to save you, just like he saved me."

"I don't need to be saved." MetalGarurumon's last statement sparked a sliver of confidence in Koichi's mind, which disintegrated as soon as MetalGarurumon looked back at him. He didn't say anything, he just gave Koichi an intense stare for a few moments, and then walked away, heading back towards the rest of the digidestined.

"Don't go anywhere," He ordered, "You'll regret it."

"Garurumon." Matt stood ahead of the team, which had gathered back together after MetalGarurumon deflected Diaboromon's Web Wrecker, and greeted MetalGarurumon, who nudged him in the stomach calmly. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me," He said humbly, "Thank them." He nodded to Tai, Eric, Izzy, T.K., Kari, Hakase, and the unconscious Agumon, Tentomon, Terriermon, Patamon, and Salamon, the conscious of which looked surprised by MetalGarurumon's statement.

"What? Why us?" Izzy inquired confused.

"If it weren't for the friendship that you rekindled with me and Matt, I never would have had the ability to digivolve to mega, except with the power of the dark needle that is."

"Anytime." Tai laughed.

"You beat him so easily. How is that possible?" Matt was very surprised at MetalGarurumon's enormous power. The others were as well, even if they didn't show it.

"I'm not exactly sure, but I think the power of you and all of our friends gave me more strength than I normally would have."

"Well, whatever gets the job done right?" Matt chuckled.

"Yeah. Oh, which reminds me." He turned around to face Koichi, who was sneaking towards the hole in the invisible wall. "I said don't move!" He barked across the cavern. Koichi then immediately dropped to the ground in obedience.

"So what do we do now?" T.K. asked his brother's huge partner. "How do we get back to the digital world?"

"Koichi said that another gate won't open until the data stream hub bursts again. If he's telling the truth, which I have a horrible suspicion that he might, then we're stuck here until another gate opens by itself." MetalGarurumon explained.

"But Hakase said that the gates are too sporadic to rely on. We could be trapped in here for years, right?" Kari turned to Hakase, who nodded in unfortunate agreement.

"I think Koichi has a back up plan. He's not stupid. He wouldn't jump into an alternate dimension where he had no reliable way to get back." Tai reasoned.

"Maybe his plan was to distract us long enough so that the evil tamers could escape, and then they would go on a rampage to destroy enough data to open another gate." Hakase speculated.

"If that's true, then one might open up soon." Said Matt hopefully.

"Maybe we should wait here for awhile, and see if something happens." Kari suggested.

"Yeah, if we're still stuck here and it's been hours, then we'll find another way to get home." Tai agreed with his sister.

"If that's our plan," MetalGarurumon sighed, "Then in the meantime I should keep an eye on Diaboromon. I'm not expending energy, and it didn't take much effort to defeat Diaboromon, so I should be good in this state for quite a few more hours."

"That should give the others time to recover and alternate guarding him with you." T.K. smiled.

"Make sure to grab both his digivice and crest though," Matt reminded his partner, "You know how crafty he is."

It was morning. At least, thats what everyone thought it was. MetalGarurumon's weapon system included a guidance and sensory system that measured time as well, and told them the time of the digital world. The group had gotten a long nights sleep, and MetalGarurumon had awoken them just an hour ago. He was low on energy, and most of the other digimon had recovered, so the mega degenerated to Tsunomon and Kabuterimon took the next shift of guarding Koichi and Keramon. As Eric left his partner after helping him digivolve, he saw Izzy sitting alone in silence holding his laptop. Hakase had removed the battery from the computer, and it soon cooled down, protecting it from any further damage. But there was a look of worry on his face that caught Eric's attention, and prompted him to go over to the tamer of knowledge and sit down next to him.

"What's the matter?" He asked sincerely.

"Something is bothering me." Izzy replied in his usual apathetic tone. Eric had long ago realized that he used this tone when he was deep in thought, which was most of the time, so he wasn't bothered by the otherwise rude attitude.

"What?" Eric asked, trying to get the genius to bounce his thoughts off of him.

"If Tai is right, and the evil tamers are going to need to escape from Rika to cause enough destruction to create a gate, then..."

"I see." Eric interrupted. "It's a win-lose situation. We get out but the evil tamers escape once again, and a lot of digimon die so we can be free."

"Yeah."

"They'll be reborn though." Eric tried to comfort him. "Digimon are regenerated into digi-eggs, so they'll all be fine. Besides, we have WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon now, and with them we'll easily stop the other tamers a lot easier than last time."

"That's not all that's bugging me." Izzy replied.

"So what else is wrong?"

"I don't know. I remember Koichi said something important back in the data stream, but I can't remember what it is."

"If _you_ can't remember, then it must not be as important as you think. Did you talk to Hakase about it?"

"No. There's no sense in discussing something with him if I can't even remember what it is. I just can't shake the feeling that whatever I'm forgetting, it's detrimental to why we're here."

"Well, whatever you're thinking, it won't matter for long. You feel all of the energy flowing through here right? It's giving me a headache. I have a feeling the portal's about to open, and we'll be digi-world free very soon."

"We can only hope." Came Izzy's ominous reply.

"Hey Tai." Kari plopped down next to her brother, who was sitting away from the rest of the group and staring into the white void above. "What's up?"

"It's just a little hard to believe." He responded, which confused Kari a little.

"What do you mean?"

"After everything we've been through in the digital world, we finally have the opportunity to go back home." He stared even more intensely into the void. "The key is in this white space, and I'm sure Izzy and Hakase know what it is."

"You can't seriously be thinking of going back can you?" Kari became agitated. "We made the digimon a promise. We can't just leave without fulfilling that."

"I know," He sighed, "It's just so tempting."

"I know it is Tai, but just think: This portal will still be here when we defeat the evil tamers and save the digital world, so there's nothing to worry about. We can go home as soon as we're done." She smiled at her brother, who gave her a less than enthusiastic smile.

"You're so confident that we'll beat them?"

"Yeah. With WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon, we're set. We've only been gone a few hours. The evil tamers won't stand a chance against you and Matt, no matter how strong they've gotten over the last year."

"Heh..." Tai smiled, then turned away for a few seconds. "Our parents must be worried sick about us. We've been gone for so long."

"I hope Mom's doing okay," Kari sighed. "I'd hate to think that we were worrying her so much."

"You're right though, Kari, we can't leave the Digimon alone and defenseless. We have to continue on, for our partner's sake."

"It's opening!" T.K. cheered from behind. All of the digidestined then turned towards T.K. and Matt, who were staring at a gathering spark of electricity that was growing bigger each second. Soon it was larger than a human body, and an opening appeared to another white void that had a hint of other colors in it. "We have to go now!" He cheered.

"Come on Kari!" He jumped up from the ground and ran towards the portal, his sister hot on his tails. "You ready?" He asked as he arrived in front of the portal. Kari, Agumon, and the rest of the digidestined had gathered around him. Kabuterimon had as well, forgetting about his post.

"Go on Tai, you guys get out of here first." Izzy pushed the boy, who nodded.

"Let's go Kari." He smiled, and then the two jumped through the portal.

"Come on T.K.," Matt patted his brother's back, who walked up to the gate of the portal with Patamon on his head.

"Oh crap Koichi!" Kabuterimon spun around, almost forgetting about the Keramon who was wrapped in his palm and letting him slide out a few inches. They all turned to see Koichi making a mad dash for the rip in the cavern.

"No!" Tsunomon cried from Matt's feet.

"I'll get him!" Eric exclaimed, then ran after the boy.

"Wait up!" Matt was right on his heels.

"Hurry! We don't know when the gate will close!" Izzy called to them.

"Don't worry, all of you get out of here, we'll be right there!" Matt called back to them.

"What! I won't leave you here!" T.K. cried to his brother.

"It'll be fine T.K." Tentomon stated as he walked up to the gate with Keramon walking solemnly right in front of him. "Eric won't let them get trapped in here. Just go, they'll be fine." He then shoved Keramon into the portal, and jumped in after him.

"I'll wait for him." Izzy nodded while Terriermon hung desperately to his shoulder.

"Okay." T.K. was wary of leaving before his brother was at the gate, but realized he was outnumbered. "Let's go Patamon." He jumped into the gate, vanishing into another void.

"Go on Hakase." Izzy pushed the rookie's shoulder.

"But-"

"Just go." Izzy growled, and gave him a more forceful shove, making the dinosaur dive head first into the data stream.

"Tackle him!" Eric exclaimed to Matt, who had quickly passed him and was zeroing in on Koichi. Matt complied, leaping onto Koichi's back and knocking him onto the ground. Koichi banged his head rather violently against the invisible floor, and was knocked unconscious.

"Crap." Matt muttered to himself as Eric pulled into the scene. The wise tamer checked the boy's pulse, then gave a comforting nod.

"He's okay, we'll carry him out." Eric then wrapped Koichi's arm around his shoulder and lifted the heavy boy up with a little difficulty. Matt then grabbed the boy's other arm and hoisted Koichi off of his legs. They then struggled back to the gate, where Izzy, Terriermon, and Tsunomon were waiting impatiently.

"Hurry. Go!" Izzy goaded the two, nervous about the stability of the gate.

"Thanks Eric." Matt said to the boy as he released Koichi's shoulder so Eric and the unconscious pre-teen could fit into the portal.

"No problem, see you on the other side." He then graciously dove into the portal and vansihed.

"Come on Tsunomon." Matt scooped up the tiny digimon in his arms and jumped into the portal. "Hurry Izzy." He stated just before disappearing.

"Come on Izzy. Let's get out of here." Terriermon tugged the knowledgeable boy's head, yanking him towards the portal. Izzy took one last look back at the odd dimension he had been in for the last 16 and a half hours, then leaped into the portal as well. It immediately shut behind him.


	38. Deuxième Venir

**Chapter Thirty Eight: Deuxième Venir**

**The Deserts of Server: 14 Days, 16 Hours, and 30 Minutes Ago**

"Lightning Blade!"

"Rika, look out!" Renamon shoved her partner out of the way just as Andromon's devastating attack came crashing down on her, tumbling out of the way as well before the electricity slammed into the spot she was standing in.

"Get up! Hurry!" Izzy slowed down so he could help Rika to her feet. The girl scrambled up quickly and checked back to make sure Renamon was alright, but the fox was already up and running.

"Rika, come on!" She grabbed both Rika and Izzy's arms and began running wildly away from Andromon, who was now even closer to them and preparing another attack.

"We can't outrun him!" Izzy breathed as he struggled to keep up with Renamon, who was going so fast that she was almost pulling the boy's arm out of his sockets.

"Then I'll have to slow him down!" Terriermon announced as he loosened his grip on Izzy's shoulder, then leaped off of the tamer of knowledge and flung himself right towards Andromon.

"Be careful!" The spiky haired boy warned his partner, but the caution was not needed.

**"Terriermon, warp digivolve to... Rapidmon!"** The ultimate pounced into the earth just ahead of Andromon, surprising him and causing the machine to flip backwards to avoid colliding with him. Rapidmon didn't wait for his opponent to recover. If he did, then Andromon would have the upper hand. "Rapid Fire!" He began pouring bullets from his arm blasters, keeping the fire concentrated to Andromon's back to keep him paralyzed as long as possible. "Keep going! I'll catch up with you!"

"But Rapidmon-!"

"He's right. Let's go!" Renamon strengthened her grip on the boy's shoulder and picked up speed.

"We can't just leave him!" Izzy protested while struggling to stay on his feet.

"Rapidmon is much faster than Andromon. You two aren't. He can escape if he needs to but in the meantime the three of us need to find somewhere safe to hide."

"Renamon look out!" Rika warned her partner unexpectedly, prompting the rookie to slow down rapidly to a halt. It was a good thing too. Just a few feet in front of her was a massive ravine that dropped down to a dark abyss.

"That was close. Thank you Rika." Renamon panted as she pushed herself within a couple feet of the edge and looked down into the bottomless pit below.

"No problem." Rika sighed behind her.

"So how do we get around this?" Izzy cautiously inched towards the edge, making sure to get close enough to gather the full distance of the cavern but not so close as to see the bottom like Renamon.

"We could jump." Renamon suggested condescendingly. Izzy and Rika gave her a deathly stare.

"Whatever we do, we need to do it soon. We're not far enough away from the battle." Said Rika.

"Unless we climb down the ravine, something tells me that's not happening." Stated Izzy solemnly.

"We could climb down the ravine." Renamon speculated.

"I was just kidding Renamon." Izzy said in a semi-panicked voice.

"It would be a good escape route." Rika added.

"But if Andromon catches up to us while we're trying to climb down, we'd be defenseless."

"Not necessarily. I could hover us down there as-" Renamon stood up and pivoted on her right foot as she said this, pressing into the edge of the cliff and causing the apparently already tired rock to endure too much pressure. "Agh!" The fox gasped as the small ledge she was standing on gave way to her weight and began falling down the cliff side.

"Renamon!"

***

"Rika..." Renamon moaned for her partner as she slipped in and out of consciousness. She varied from each state for what seemed to her like hours, until she finally had the mental capacity to pull herself fully awake. The rookie, who was lying on the ground in a dark cave, sat up quickly. Too quickly. As soon as her head became elevated, a pounding sensation overcame the back of her skull, and she had to pull back to the ground and grip her head to try and endure the pain. After a few seconds, she got used to the headache, and tried to stand up. Her legs were weak, but she was otherwise okay. "What happened?" She whispered to herself.

"You fell." A voice within the dark cavern answered. Renamon jumped when she realized that someone else was in there with her, and quickly coiled herself into an attack position.

"Who are you!?" She demanded as she pressed her back against the wall.

"I'm a friend." The strange voice replied.

"Usually my friends don't trap me in dark caves." She growled with cockiness.

"You're not trapped. The exit's right over there." Renamon could see a thin shape rise into the air. She realized that this was the digimon's arm, so she took a quick glance at where he was pointing. Sure enough, a very faint light could be seen from the exit of the tunnel, a few hundred yards away. Renamon relaxed a little bit, realizing that the mysterious monster in the cave might not be an enemy after all.

"How far did I fall?" She asked warily but calmly.

"About a thousand feet, give or take." The digimon stated before lowering his arm and disappearing into the shadows once again.

"What? That's impossible! I would be dead if I had fallen that far."

"You would have been, had I not caught you."

"You? You saved me?"

"That's right. Do you have issue with that?'

"No. Thank you." Renamon was getting uncomfortable with the situation, so she began to walk towards the exit.

"You should be more careful next time."

"I will." Renamon growled, picking up her pace.

"I'm serious. How would your partner like it if you survived a deadly assault from Andromon only to die falling down a cliff? Seems kind of, anti-climatic."

"How would you know that I have a partner?" The hairs on Renamon's back began standing up, as she began to fear that her first instinct was correct, and that she might very well be in the lion's den.

"That's not important. What is important is that you get back to your task, old friend. You are more important than you know."

"What?"

"Just, take care of her. If you do, everything will work itself out."

"I don't need you to tell me to protect my partner. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find her."

"Do you even care? About her that is?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course I care! She means the world to me. Not only is she my partner but she's helping me save the digital world when she has no obligation to!"

"Good. Do you love her?"

"What?"

"I said, do you love her? Do you love your partner as your closest friend?" Renamon stood speechless at the question.

"Um..."

**The Digital World: Now**

"They're back."

"So I've heard."

"What are we going to do? We've made so much progress. I don't want them to come here and ruin everything like they've done before."

"Don't worry, I've got a plan."

"You? Miss, "Let's Attack Now Without Thinking About What we're doing"? I don't think so."

"Don't mock me. I actually have a solid idea. It's one they frequently like to pull on us."

"And what would that be."

"Let's just all return to our fortresses, I'll get to work from there."

"And leave us all exposed to them by separating?"

"No. She's right. We should all return to our fortresses. They'll be coming to each of our territories in time, and I don't want them to give our subjects false hope."

"Where are they now?"

"They're in my territory. Which is why you should let me try to stop them first."

"And what if they find a way to beat you? One of them is potentially as strong as us, and they just might stir the girl out of hiding."

"It won't matter. My partner's been a mega for too long to be beaten by them even if they find a way to digivolve themselves."

"I still don't like it. We should all attack at once and get rid of them once and for all."

"No. If we don't plan this out right, then they'll certainly stop us. Especially if they rally their stupid little friends to help them."

"He's right. Everyone go to your territories," Yolei instructed the rest of the evil digidestined, "It's time we show them what we're truly made of."

***

"Ugh," Tai tried to moan, but something was wrong with his mouth. A tough, grainy substance was blocking his mouth from inhaling or exhaling. "Wha...? He suddenly realized that his face was shoved about six inches into a pile of sand. He pulled his head out of the grain and then coughed and spit wildly, trying to get the rocky substance out of his mouth. After brushing off the rest of his face, he looked around to try and discover where he was. A sea of sand surrounded him. Great, he thought to himself. More desert. Fortunately Tai could spot a long, tall, red rock formation stretching across the horizon in the distance, so he figured that they might be near the edge of the Server desert.

"Tai," A muffled voice sounded behind him. Tai turned his head to see Agumon's head buried in the dirt, and his arms and legs flailing in the air.

"Agumon!" Tai sprang to his feet and dashed through the sand over to Agumon. He grabbed the rookie's shoulders and yanked him out of the sand, falling back onto his butt as he did so. "You okay?" He asked his partner as he helped him stand up.

"Yaw." Agumon opened his mouth to reply, but a stream of sand poured out and muffled his answer. "Maybe not." He continued, then began spitting the rough pebbles out of his mouth.

"Is everyone here?" Eric groaned from Tai's left.

"Me and Agumon are fine." Tai replied. He then turned to see Eric helping the unconscious Koichi out of the sand. To the 13 year old's left was Tentomon struggling with Keramon. Once his eyes got used to the sun, Tai could also make out other digidestined recovering.

"We're fine." Matt grumbled from the sand. "Me and T.K. and Patamon and Tsunomon." Matt's voice strength varied. He was obviously dazed.

"We're okay." Salamon helped the eight year old out of the sand.

"How 'bout you Izzy?" Eric coughed.

"Terrific." Said the genius as he shook Terriermon and Hakase loose from their grainy tombs.

"Kari, grab my hand." Tai stumbled over to his sister and leaned his hand out to her. She graciously took it and let her big brother pull her out of the sand.

"So how did we crash back onto the digital world without breaking anything?" T.K. groaned as he brushed the sand off of his knees.

"If I had to take a guess I'd say dumb luck." Tai laughed.

"More than likely the data stream released us in one of the hot spots where it dumps energy." Izzy explained.

"He was kidding Izzy." Kari stated obviously.

"We should get moving." Tai instructed, quickly returning to leader mode.

"I agree, but from where?" Matt asked. "We're in the middle of the desert."

"There's a rock formation over that way," Tai pointed a thumb behind him. "We can hike over there and get a better vantage point of where we are."

"Okay then, let's get a move on." Eric groaned as he hoisted Koichi onto his shoulder.

"Ooph!" A noise came from Eric's right, and everyone turned to see Keramon hanging unconscious from Tentomon's arms.

"What?" He defended. "He was struggling too much."

***

"So... how do we get up there?" Izzy stared at the massive wall of red rock. It was slanted at a 135 degree angle against the sand, and stretched for miles in either direction. The face was mostly flat, with bumpy edges and holes scattered throughout it.

"I guess we climb." Tai shrugged, then placed a foot on the rock.

"Don't go alone Tai, it looks slippery." Kari whined to her brother.

"I'll go with him." Eric said. "It doesn't look too challenging. At least it's not a 90 degree wall. Here, hold this." He gently tossed Koichi's body to Matt, then placed his own foot on the structure, then both boy's started climbing. They both crawled in silence for a minute: their goal to reach close to the top of the ridge and see if they could find a forest, ocean, or city nearby. Halfway up, however, a disturbing thought overcame Tai.

"How easy is this for you?"

"Very. Why?"

"It feels too easy. Like there's no gravity pulling on us at all."

"You're right. It's almost as if we're..." Eric's eyes widened, and then he tried something daring. He let go of the shallow hole he had used to support himself and leaned backwards. "Oh God."

"What?"

"Stand up."

"What?"

"Just stand up." He instructed again, then he stood up himself. Tai looked dumbstruck as Eric stood perfectly level on the 135 degree plane. After a few moments of doubt, Tai did the same.

"How are we doing this?" Tai asked Tentomon's partner. Once he started to move, he realized that there was no gravitational pull whatsoever from the ground behind them, and the red rock they were standing on kept them perpendicular to it.

"I have no idea, but it terrifies me."

"Maybe we didn't really leave Wonderland after all." Tai joked. Eric gave a fake laugh and then started walking forward.

"We should at least figure out what's on the other side of this ridge."

"Why don't I go back and tell the others what's going on with this rock, and you check over the ridge." Tai suggested and ordered at the same time. He then began walking back towards the other digidestined, who he could see in the distance had a shocked look on their faces. Eric shrugged and then began walking towards the edge of the ridge, not knowing what weird laws of physics he would find there.

"Tai, how are you doing that?" Kari panicked as she saw her brother reach the edge of the red rock and then step onto the sand, returning to the normal gravitational level.

"I don't know, but it's really freaky up there. It's really easy to walk, almost like that's the flat ground and this is the slope, until you step back here that is."

"OH MY GOD!!!" They all heard Eric yell. The five destined, their partners, and Hakase then looked up to Eric, who was backing away slowly from the edge of the ridge.

"What is it!?" Tai called to the tamer of wisdom.

"Um...! You'd better come see for yourself!" He replied in a nervous yell.

"Let's go check it out." T.K. stated bravely, and then stepped onto the red rock.

"T.K.!" Matt objected his brother's impulsive action, but had to do the same thing to catch up to the boy, who was already quite a ways up the slope.

"Come on Tai!" Kari was excited too, and grabbed her brothers arm, starting up the slope. The other destined and Hakase reluctantly followed.

"What is it Eric?" T.K. asked as he approached Eric, who was about five feet from the edge. Eric then stuck his hand out into the air, blocking T.K. and Matt from going any farther.

"Be very careful." Eric stated nervously. Matt and T.K. could see that he was shaking a little.

"Why?"

"Do what he says T.K." Matt growled, shaking his little brother's head. The two then cautiously moved towards the edge, taking it one foot at a time.

"Oh, Yggdrasil." Tsunomon, who was sitting in T.K.'s arms, muttered in amazement. What the two were looking over was amazing. The edge of the ridge was actually a drop off that dived down deep, what looked like to be a mile, but it was not a canyon or anything similar. As the rest of the digidestined gathered, they could see the main reason Eric had gasped. Stretching across them for hundreds and hundreds of miles, all the way to the horizon and beyond, was and endless sea of lava at the base of the cliff.

"What is that?" Kari piped from behind her brother's back.

"I don't know." Tai responded. "Agumon?"

"I've never heard of anything like this existing in the digital world before."

"Me either." Terriermon gasped.

"We should go back." Matt said half heartedly, still amazed by the sea of deadly liquid.

"But what if this is important?" Izzy quivered.

"No, Matt's right. We'll find another way to get out of here. Tentomon, do you have the energy to digivolve to ultimate?" Eric asked his partner as he turned around.

"It looks endless." Tai stated, hypnotized by the red field. "It almost looks like somebody took a big chunk of the digital world and... did something with it, I don't know."

"They did." Eric answered ominously.

"What?"

"Somebody took the digital world and moved it: up there." Eric pointed ahead of him. The rest of the digidestined then turned around and gasped. Indeed, the sea of lava was endless. It probably stretched to the other side of the digital world. That was because all of the land had twirled together onto a massive mountain that soared above them to an endless point in the sky. As amazing as the mountain was, however, the most defining feature was that the base of the mountain was nothing but desert, and above the base there were strips that lined each other and twisted around the mountain. Each strip was a different color, and a different terrain.

The fattest strip, a deep blue one with a few hints of tan that could have been beaches, was the digital world's ocean. It's base seemed closest to where the digidestined stood. The next thickest strip was a patchy green color, which was probably the jungles and forest land. The next strip was very thin. It was mostly blue, indicating that it was also water, but the destined could make out gray lines crossing all over this strip, as well as a few gray circles dotted everywhere. They could not figure out what this strip was. The next one was more definable. It was thicker than the blue and gray strip, but not as big as the forest and water terrains. This one was a mixture of green and brown, and had the most definable topographic features. These were the mountains of the digital world. The last strip was barely visible. A thin white line roped around the digital mountain, extending into the endless sky with the rest of the digital planes.

"What the hell happened while we were gone?" Tentomon whispered. Tai answered him.

"I don't know, but we'd better find out."

***

"I see something." MegaKabuterimon said optimistically as he drove through the desert sky. After seeing what had become of the rest of the digital world, the team had decided to hop onto MegaKabuterimon's back and fly towards the sea area, hoping to find a town or something to ask the digimon what had happened in their absence. Fortunately they didn't have to wait that long. About three quarters of the way through the desert base, they saw a town with a high wall around it sitting in the middle of nowhere.

"Is that the metropolis?" Tai asked as MegaKabuterimon began to make a landing a mile away.

"I don't think so." Eric said in a questioning voice. "It looks too short."

"It reminds me of a city Rika and I found when we were separated from you guys." Izzy recollected as they all piled off of the ultimate insect and let him degenerate. "It was a ghost town."

"Great. Does that mean it's not even worth checking out?" T.K. asked.

"No. Something weird has happened. Any sign of civilization might help us figure out what's going on." Tai said rationally. "We should get going." He started walking forward.

"Hey Tai, slow down." Matt called to the leader, who was walking along with Agumon at a faster pace than the others.

"Hurry up guys." He waved to them as he began to pick up his pace. The sand then exploded in front of him. Tai and Agumon bounced back as a giant metal covered reptile burst out of the ground and pulled his claws back, ready to attack. The tyrannosaurus then spoke.

"I can't believe you would be foolish enough to walk out in the desert unprotected, but I'm not going to let something like this go to waste! Giga Destroyer Two-" The dramon stopped short, staring with intense surprise as the sand settled and he could make out the faces of the stunned children and digimon before him. "No..."

"Um, who are you?" Tai asked with a weak voice.

"Tai?" MetalTyrannomon smiled.

"Uh, yeah."

"Tai!" MetalTyrannomon dove down and scooped Tai and Agumon into a massive, chest crushing hug. He laughed happily for a second, then released the two partners, who were dazed but okay.

"Do we know you?" Tai asked nervously.

"Tyrannomon!" Kari cheered, recognizing the digimon after a moment.

"Kari! Izzy!" MetalTyrannomon released a heavy laugh once again. It seemed more like a sigh of relief than one of happiness.

"Tyrannomon, what are you doing here?" Tai asked confused but happy.

"What do you mean?" he boomed.

"Why aren't you on File Island with Meramon and Leomon? And why are you covered in metal?"

"I'm covered in metal because I digivolved to MetalTyrannomon. And as for why I'm not on File Island, well..."

"What's going on MetalTyrannomon?" Izzy asked worried.

"Where were you guys?" MetalTyrannomon ignored the digidestined's questions and began asking his own.

"We were in the data stream, defeating Koichi." Eric replied, pointing to the boy that Matt had slung over his shoulder. "We had to stay overnight because we needed to wait for a portal to open back to the digital world. How could all of this happen in one day?" Eric threw his hands out wide, indicating the gravity inversed mountain they were on.

"I think you better come with me." Was all MetalTyrannomon could say. He then began to drag his heavy metal tail through the sand towards the defended city a mile away.

"But-" Kari began, but Tai placed his hand on her shoulder and stopped her.

"Let's just go with him okay. He's our friend, he'll tell us what's going on soon." He said comfortingly. The 13 warriors (along with the unconscious Koichi and Keramon) then set off after MetalTyrannomon, who walked solemnly but rapidly ahead of them. They had to struggle to keep up. After crossing the desert they arrived at the city gates. They gathered behind MetalTyrannomon to try to not make a scene, but before the ultimate dramon could begin speaking, the small, hovering purple ball with a muscular arm holding a sword and a scrawny arm curved around him and pounced in front of their old friend.

"Tai." The purple ball's eyes stared at him admirably, confusing the digidestined even more.

"Who are-"

"Oh Tai!" The digimon dropped the sword and wrapped his arms around the courageous digidestined, who braced himself this time (unlike his encounter with MetalTyrannomon).

"You mind telling me who you are?" Tai grunted, prompting the strange digimon to release his grip and hover in front of the 12 year old once again.

"You don't recognize me? Wait, of course you don't." The digimon scratched his head. "I'm Tekkamon, uh-"

"I believe you used to know him as Omekamon, before he digivolved." MetalTyrannomon said happily from above.

"Omekamon- hey!" Tai laughed. "You digivolved too? That's great!"

"If only it were." MetalTyrannomon groaned. "Let's go." He pushed open the doors and walked inside. The group quickly traveled through the mostly deserted streets to a large hollowed building where the 13 friends could meet in peace. The digidestined were surprised at how the few digimon in the city (mostly champions, rookies, and in-trainings who looked to be refugees) stared at them not with fear or anger, but with desperation. Tai and Matt then began explaining what had happened in the Internet. They burned through the story quickly, for they were desperate to hear what had happened in the digital world since they had been gone.

"So what happened? How did everything unravel in one night? And where's Rika?" Tai asked.

"Okay," Tekkamon began, "Please try to save your questions until after I'm done." He coughed, then began. "After you left, we all took the evil tamers back to Shichiri Village. We locked them up in the laboratory just in case, and then waited for you guys to get back." Tekkamon took a deep breath, then continued. "A few weeks passed-"

"What?" The other destined controlled their surprise, but Tai burst out in confusion.

"Tai calm down, let them finish." Matt said partially calmly. Tai struggled, but calmed himself. Tekkamon then continued.

"After a few weeks passed by, all hell broke loose. One day, Ken slipped out. He tricked someone who was giving him food and freed the rest of the evil tamers. They escaped, and Rika and Renamon went after them. We never saw them again, but we saw the evil digidestined."

"It's been 100 years Tai," MetalTyrannomon said to the complete shock of all the tamers, "And in that time, the evil digidestined have escalated to mega. They found some way to warp the terrain of the digital world, and have pulled the entire thing onto this, Spiral Mountain, with each one of them ruling their own territory."

***

"How could this happen?" T.K. muttered. After MetalTyrannomon and Tekkamon had explained what had happened since their departure, they gave each of the digidestined small rooms to rest in for the night. Hakase had taken Koichi and Keramon over to the small jail they had in the broken down city, while the digidestined merged together in Tai's room.

"It's all my fault." Izzy said, on the verge of tears.

"Don't say that Izzy." Terriermon tried to comfort his partner from his shoulder.

"No, it is. Koichi told us that 10 minutes in our world equals a year in the digital world. And the Internet is connected to our world!"

"And while we were only there for 16 and a half hours," Eric continued for him, "The digital world was falling into chaos."

"It's all my fault! I should have remembered! I could have done something!"

"There was nothing you could have done Izzy." Terriermon said reassuringly.

"Yes there was! I could have-"

"Stop it!" Terriermon slapped the back of the boy's head with his large ear.

"What would you have done Izzy?" Kari took Terriermon's place in calming the his partner. "Once we were pulled into the Internet we had no control over how we got back. We were completely at the mercy of the laws of the digital world."

"Izzy, this is no time for self-pity." Eric growled. The situation was getting intense. "What happened happened. Now we have to figure out what to do."

"Another question is how can the evil tamers still be alive if it's been 100 years?" Said T.K.

"I don't know, but if that's true then it probably means Rika is alive too. Our first priority should be to find her." Tai cut off Eric, who was about to respond to Takeru.

"But you heard what MetalTyrannomon said: They haven't seen Rika for 100 years. How are we supposed to find her?"

"So are you saying we should just give up on her?" Tai growled.

"No one's saying that Tai." Agumon tried to calm the boy. "We just need to think realistically."

"And what would the realistic thing to do be?"

"We need to clean up our mess." Izzy responded, having gotten over his pity.

"What do you mean?" Patamon asked as he sat perched on Takeru's head.

"We screwed up. We left, and that allowed the evil digidestined to free themselves and create havoc in this world. We need to fix it. We need to find each of them and defeat them. We'll steal their digivices and take them back here where Hakase can figure out how to cure them."

"That's kind of extreme Izzy." Said Terriermon. "How do you expect us to defeat him when they're all at mega?"

"We have WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon." Izzy answered.

"But the evil tamers' partners have been mega for a hundred years. They're so much stronger than us." Tsunomon reasoned.

"No, they're not. Not stronger than you anyway." He replied. "The reason the evil tamers aren't dead is because, like Koichi implied, us humans are connected to Earth. We live and grow on Earth time. No matter how long we stay in the digital world, we'll only follow the path of how we live on Earth."

"Yeah, but how does that-?"

"It's the same for the digimon." Eric realized Izzy's path of thinking and interrupted the digidestined of friendship. "They follow the path of the digital world. They may have been in our world for only a few hours, but they grew stronger based on how the digital world dictated they would."

"So that means that WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon are probably as strong as the evil tamers' mega partners?" Kari asked excitedly.

"Depending on when they all digivolved, maybe more."

"But what about Rika?" Tai dragged the conversation back to his concerns.

"If we make a big enough commotion, I don't think she'll be able to stay away."

"Then do we all agree?" Izzy asked depressingly.

"I think we do." Tai nodded. "Tomorrow we'll tell MetalTyrannomon that we're going to the ocean territory to find whoever is the master there and defeat them."

"It's probably Zoe." Said Matt. "The only other one of the evil tamers who had a sea type digimon was Joe, and based on that small white strip I saw, I'm betting that that one is his ice kingdom."

"We should all get some sleep." Agumon yawned. "It'll be a long day tomorrow, especially for me and Tsunomon." The in-training in Matt's arms nodded.

"Okay then, we'll go." Izzy stood up and walked out of the room. The others followed, leaving Tai and Kari alone with their digimon.

"Go to bed Kari." The goggle head ordered.

"Are you going to be okay Tai?" She asked, standing up with Salamon at her heels.

"Yeah, I just can't believe how out of control things have gotten."

"That was probably Koichi's plan Tai." Kari reasoned. "Think about it: why would Koichi want to gain our trust, kidnap me, and distract us long enough so that the evil tamers could escape, if he didn't know they would be captured in the first place. It was their plan all along. He helped us defeat VenomMyotismon, then kidnapped me and took us all to the Internet so that the evil tamers could do this to the digital world, and we fell for it like a bunch of idiots Tai."


	39. Segundo Venir

**Chapter Thirty Nine: Segundo Venir**

"Are you sure you don't want us to come with you?" Hakase whined at Tai as everyone in the village congregated near the northern (or upper) exit. Earlier that day, the digidestined had found MetalTyrannomon and told them of their plan. After much debate, MetalTyrannomon finally succumbed to the tamers' request, and agreed to guide them to the ocean territory, where they would begin their plan to stop the evil tamers once again. Tai and the others had also decided that except for MetalTyrannomon to guide them, bringing any of their digimon friends along could jeopardize their safety.

"You've all done your part. Now it's time for us to clean up the mess we created." Tai spoke with certainty.

"But Tai-" Tekkamon began.

"No. We've made our decision. You're all staying. We can't risk the evil tamers trying to destroy you. If for some reason we fail, you would be the digital world's last hope."

"Aw." Tekkamon groaned to himself.

"Momentai, Tekkamon." Terriermon said cheerily.

"No one knows what that means Terriermon." Izzy groaned to the bunny-dog standing on his head.

"I know but it's sure fun to say." He smiled.

"It's time we got going children." MetalTyrannomon addressed the six tamers as well as their partners. The 12 then said goodbye to their friends and followed MetalTyrannomon out of the city. They then began their short hike through the desert.

"Hey MetalTyrannomon," Tai said to the giant leading them, "You never told us what happened to Meramon or Leomon."

"Leomon is on the other side of the mountain, trying to gather refugees to bring back to the city. Meramon died while defending File Island from the wrath of the evil tamers." He replied solemnly. Tai quickly shut up. They kept walking for around two hours, and soon they could see a thin blue line appearing out of the horizon. Within another 30 minutes they could see the massive ocean spreading out before them. MetalTyrannomon however stopped at a bay that extended a few thousand feet into the desert. A few trees lined the inverse peninsula, and there was even a small dock stretching out into the water. "You need transportation." MetalTyrannomon instructed. "I know you said you didn't want to jeopardize our safety, but you need this old friend to help you get through the ocean territory."

"Who's out there?" Tai inquired. He was immediately answered when a massive blue shape burst from underwater in the bay.

"Tai! Kari! Friends!" Whamon yelled as he swam up next to the dock. The six digidestined were shocked, but happy and excited to see their friend who originally helped them get to the continent of Server.

"Whamon! It's so great to see you!" Tai cheered as the six ran across the deck to where a wooden platform was built onto the ultimate whale's back.

"It's great to see you too Tai. When MetalTyrannomon told me what happened, I was shocked. But now I'm ready to help you find MetalSeadramon and put an end to the our suffering!"

"So Betamon evolved to MetalSeadramon, huh?" Matt asked to himself. He felt a shake when he climbed aboard the Whamon ship, and realized that Whamon had shuddered when he had boarded.

"I was told about you too Matt. Forgive me if I'm a little nervous. But I'm glad T.K. got his brother back. I'm happy to help you as well."

"Take them to that island you told me about Whamon." MetalTyrannomon instructed their ride. "If what you found out is accurate, then that's where MetalSeadramon and Zoe's fortress should be."

"Okay then." Whamon nodded, much to the discomfort of his riders. "Let's get going before my nerves get the best of me." He started to pull out of the bay.

"Goodbye MetalTyrannomon. Thank you!" Kari called to her old friend.

"If you ever need our help, you know where to find us." He replied one last time, then turned around and began his return to the refugee city. Whamon pulled out of the bay, and then turned around and set a high speed course for wherever MetalTyrannomon had told them to go.

"So what is this fortress that MetalTyrannomon was talking about?" Tai asked his transportation.

"We think it's where Zoe and MetalSeadramon are ruling the ocean territory from, but we're not sure. They can be pretty elusive when they need to be. It's weird really. I don't think there is anyone in the digital world now who has the brass to go head to head with any of the evil tamers."

"They probably expected that we would return, and made sure that none of our friends would be able to help us find them." Said Eric.

"Well it looks like that plan went down the drain." Agumon replied happily.

"We can only hope." Izzy added solemnly.

"Jeez Izzy, don't be such a downer. Momentai, remember?" Terriermon said playfully.

"Still don't know what that means Terriermon."

"Neither do I, but it doesn't stop me from saying it."

"I'm not entirely sure what momentai means but he's probably right Izzy. Right now you could be Rachel Dratch's replacement on snl." Eric joked.

"She's leaving?" Matt questioned the older tamer, temporarily forgetting about their current mission.

"Yeah. Suck's aye?"

"Are you really going to talk about this right now?" Tai groaned.

"Sorry."

"Sorry."

"It might be a good idea if we knew a little bit more about the evil digidestined before we started fighting them." Kari redirected the subject. She then looked to Matt, who gave her a blank gaze.

"Yeah. If we knew their strengths and weaknesses, we might be able to fight them more efficiently." Tai agreed, also looking at Matt. The friendship tamer looked around to see that all eyes were now on him. He just sat there for a few seconds.

"Well, say something dammit!" Whamon bellowed from the depths.

"Alright, fine." Matt groaned.

"Tell us about Zoe first, since we're probably going up against her soon." Said T.K.

"Well, she's very active. She likes to attack right away without thinking about it, and sometimes she forgets the plans we lay out and goes in for the attack. The thing is, that works for her. She usually surprises anyone she's attacking and beats them down before they can mount a defense. She has the crest of determination."

"What about Joe?" Kari asked. "We didn't really get to know him that much before... you know."

"Joe is the big picture guy. He thinks about our plans before we can do anything and makes sure there aren't any flaws in what we're doing. He's not the strongest, and he's not the smartest. But he is the most cautious. He and Zoe don't get along really well. His crest is reliability."

"How about Ken and Yolei?" Eric asked with intensity.

"Yolei has the crest of common sense. She's like Joe. She thinks about everything first, but on a more practical approach. Between her and Joe, sometimes I don't know how we ever got anything done. But she's more than that. She's sort of a balance of everybody. She's smart and strong. She has advantages over everybody, and that makes her deadly."

"Yay."

"Ken is really the brains of the operation. He makes all of our tactical decisions and even though he seems irrational sometimes, he really knows what he's doing. His crest is prudence."

"And what about Kazu?" Asked Izzy.

"In some ways, Kazu is the best of all of us."

"How?" Everyone asked.

"When we first came to the digital world, Kazu was a really fun loving guy. He joked around a lot and sometimes he even played pranks on us."

"Doesn't sound like the guy we had to deal with." Izzy mumbled.

"That's because once he was hit by the dark needle- he changed. He lost his fun loving self and became cold and ruthless. I guess Devimon didn't want a joker on his team, so he messed with his personality. He turned Kazu into a mindless zombie who's only goal is to follow the orders of his superiors. When he's given a task, Kazu and Andromon don't stop until it's done or they're instructed to. The word fail isn't even in their vocabulary. It's weird but he has the crest of ingenuity."

"Why does that make him the best?" Tai asked.

"Because if he were told to do something sinister like, kill us, then there would be nothing that could stop him." Eric answered for Matt.

"Exactly. The rest of us always had our reservations about feeding the digimon's digi-cores to Devimon, but we just blocked it off. But Kazu didn't. If he ever showed any emotion in anything he did, I'd bet it would be happiness when he was murdering digimon."

"Great. Which domain do you think he has?" Said Tai.

"Probably that smaller blue one with the gray blotches." Said Eric.

"Yeah. Those blotches were probably cities." Izzy continued.

"That's one territory away from this one." Kari analyzed. "If we're going to defeat the evil tamers, then we'll probably have to take it territory by territory. After we defeat MetalSeadramon we'll probably head towards the forest region, where Yolei and Cherrymon most likely are."

"Then after that is Kazu and Andromon." Tai interrupted. "No, not Andromon. His mega form." They traveled for a few hours. Whamon revealed to them during the trip that the island where the fortress was hopefully located was about five hours away from the desert base of the mountain. The trip was going smoothly, until Whamon felt a vibration in the water. Some of the other digimon sensed it too.

"What was that?" Salamon quivered.

"What was what?" Kari questioned her partner.

"There was a vibration in the water."

"There's someone down there." Whamon replied.

"Who could it be?" Said Kari.

"Maybe it's just a passing digimon." Matt suggested with doubt.

"Digimon aren't allowed to swim in this part of the ocean." Whamon answered.

"Then why are we here?"

"Because we're getting ready to fight Zoe and MetalSeadramon." Izzy replied obviously.

"You don't think it's MetalSeadramon do you?" T.K. asked.

"No." Whamon replied. "It's most likely one of his enforcers."

"Enforcers?"

"When the evil tamers took over the digital world, some of the digimon sold out and started working for them."

"How many digimon work for the evil tamers?" Asked Tai.

"About 10 percent of the population."

"Oh."

"Get inside my blow hole!" Whamon then yelled without warning.

"What?"

"Get inside now!" He screamed again. The group didn't need to be told a third time. They all scrambled to their feet and ran over to the circular port hole they knew led to the inside of Whamon's oral cavity.

"I got it." Tai grabbed the handle on the wooden board and lifted it up. The new hatch door was heavy, and didn't open all the way, so Tai had to keep it held open. "Go." He said quickly. Everyone complied and followed after him. After everyone had gone in, Tai and Agumon were the only ones left. "You want to tell us what's happening?"

"I will," Whamon grumbled, "When you're safe."

"Ayah!" Three small figures jumped out of the water and landed on Whamon's deck.

"What are those?" Tai mumbled.

"Divermon." Agumon answered ominously.

"Gyah!" Whamon groaned. "I'm being attacked from below by more Whamon. You guys need to get inside now!" As he said this the entire barge suddenly shook ferociously, indicating that Whamon was being attacked.

"Get them!" One of the Divermon instructed. They all then pounced towards Agumon and Tai, who made a last ditch effort to dive into the blow hole. The Divermon were too quick. They snatched Tai and Agumon's ankles before the two could make it into the blow hole and dragged them to the other side of the platform.

"No!" Tai and Agumon cried desperately as they tried to escape the clutches of the vicious digimon. During the struggle Tai reached for the digivice on his hip, but realized it wasn't there. He glanced over to one of the Divermon and saw that he was holding the courageous tamer's device in his palm.

"Get inside now!" Whamon cried, oblivious to the situation top side.

"Now!" One of the Divermon then yelled into the water. Just then another smaller Whamon burst from the water and opened his mouth. The Divermon threw the two hostages in, and the ultimate shut his mouth and dove down into the depths.

***

"Welcome Tai." A soft but powerful voice laughed in Tai's ear. The boy couldn't see due to the blindfold over his eyes. There was also the issue that he had been thrown in the mouth of a Whamon and shaken as the ultimate rocketed through the sea. But Tai could tell who was talking to him. The voice was all too familiar. It was the same voice that had ordered her partner to kill Tai and his sister on their second day in the digital world, which had also helped Agumon digivolve to Greymon.

"Hi Zoe." He replied in a knowing, depressed tone.

"It's been a long time since I last saw you. I believe we were fighting? Was it? Because I seemed to remember we really connected."

"If you're talking about when you tackled to me and almost broke my digivice, I don't think that qualifies."

"You have to realize Tai. I've been alive for one hundred years. My memory is not what it used to be."

"You sound the same to me."

"Well it's hard to fit a lifetime of memories into, what is it? Sixteen hours? Yes, that's it."

"Sixteen and a half."

"Ooh, so brave Tai, correcting me like that in the situation you're in. That's why I chose you."

"What?"

"Tai, the only reason you're alive right now is because I'm letting you. But I can have have my partner, who is hovering above you at his very moment eat you within a moment's notice."

"Fine. What do you want?"

"I'll be honest Tai. You've always been a real challenge to me. Ever since that first time we really met in that village I burned down I've found that you're quite the adversary. I love the challenge, but I'd love to have you as an ally more."

"Are you seriously asking me what I think you're asking?"

"What? You are telling me that you never thought about it? You never wondered about what it would be like to have all the power you could ever dream of? You could have everything you ever wanted Tai, anything, anyone."

"The only thing I want is to defeat you and free the digimon. And I'm not to big on women who have 100 years on me either. Is that why I'm wearing this blindfold? You don't want me to see how you've aged?" Suddenly a fast palm slammed into his cheek.

"I was just kidding Tai. I thought it might help convince you to join us, but I guess you're just not mature enough."

"At least I'm mature enough to know right from wrong."

"That's what you think Tai. Maybe if you knew what we knew you wouldn't be so quick to call us the bad guys."

"After everything you've done, you're really going to try and tell me that you're trying to help this world?"

"Who says this world needs helping?"

"Are you kidding?"

"Not this time Tai." She laughed. Her icy shrill sent a wave of fear through Tai's bones. "This world is full of corruption. It's a good thing we're here to keep the order, or the people who used to run this world could come back to take advantage of the digimon."

"The Royal Knights?"

"Bingo Tai."

"How can you call the Royal Knights corrupt? You don't even know who they are."

"But I know what they did to our master."

"VenomMyotismon?"

"He goes by that name sometimes."

"So what did they do?"

"They betrayed him, that's what."

"Kind of like you did?"

"It is nothing like what we did. When the Royal Knights betrayed Devimon and his superiors, they were banished to the dark plane, where evil digimon go and never return. When we took over this world, we blocked the portals to the dark plane so that he wouldn't be sent there. Our master is alive and well, and this perfect world is waiting for him thanks to us."

"I doubt he'll see it that way."

"And how do you think he'll see it?"

"I think when he hatches from a digi-egg or however that monster is born he'll see that his servants betrayed him so that they could rule the digital world themselves, even though that wasn't what he wanted to do in the first place. Then he'll get angry and kill you all."

"I thought you wanted to save us Tai. Would you really let that happen?" She patronized.

"Matt told me about you Zoe."

"Excuse me?"

"He told me about your impulsive nature. He gave us your strengths and weaknesses, and my friends will use that against you."

"Oh, I'm sure they will. In fact, I'm counting on it."

"What?"

"Tai, a lot has changed in the last 100 years. In fact, I think you'll find that the world is nothing like you used to remember. Both the physical terrain and those that live here." She then took his blindfold off. Tai was surprised, but he suppressed the motion to reveal it. He knew Zoe hadn't aged, but he hadn't expected her to look exactly the same as before. As she stared at him, the only thing that was different about the long blond haired girl was that instead of her regular purple and white vest, shirt, skirt, and bandanna, she was wearing a long black robe that concealed everything but her head, neck, and a small part of her shoulders. "Are you surprised?"

"I thought you said you had changed?"

"I did say that. But I didn't say I was the same on the inside." Tai was confused about this remark, thinking that she was referring to her position on destroying digimon, but he was quickly corrected when she tapped her head with her index finger. "It may have taken 100 years, but I'm not as impulsive as I used to be. I don't have to anyways. I'm too powerful for you to defeat me. MetalSeadramon has been growing at top potential for the past ten decades, and you couldn't even hope to obtain that kind of power." Tai kept quiet. His mind immediately went to what Izzy said about WarGreymon having gained the strength that he would have if he had been a mega for 100 years, but he was sure that Zoe knew that. Was she just trying to toy with him? Or was Izzy wrong? Could it be that she actually didn't know that he and Agumon had the ability to defeat her?

"Agumon!" Tai's thoughts rerouted to his partner, who he had been separated with when he was blindfolded.

"He's fine Tai. See." She moved out of the way of Tai's line of vision so he could get a real view of where he was. He looked around to see that he was in a huge black walled cavern that was only lit by two flames on opposite walls perpendicular to him. Across from the goggle head were two large wooden stakes. Tied to one of them was Agumon, who had a leather muzzle over his mouth to prevent him from using his teeth or Pepper Breath attack to try and escape. He decided not to look behind him, so he wouldn't have to see MetalSeadramon looming over him. "Now, my offer still stands."

"I'll never willingly join you." Tai growled, offended.

"We'll see about that." She chuckled, then walked behind him and pushed him forward. "I'll give you some time to think." She walked him towards the second wooden stake and turned him around. He could now see MetalSeadramon coiled in the opposite side of the cave, blocking what looked to be a wooden door. As Zoe tied Tai to the stake, Tai examined her mega level partner. It was nothing new. He looked like the same demon sea snake that he had been before, only this time he was covered in golden armor. The only abstraction was a flat panel that was built into the armor on his forehead that faced outward in front of his face. "Comfortable?" She laughed.

"No." Was his rude reply. She then walked back in front of him. She smiled for a second, then changed her smile to an angry frown an slammed her palm around Tai's neck, almost choking him.

"You turned Matt against us, and I'm not happy about that. You'd better think long and hard about how you want to go from here, because if you don't decide to join me, then what I do to you is going to be a lot worse than what I do to any of your pathetic little friends." Tai could have corrected her and told her that it was actually Hakase and T.K. who did that, but he didn't want to put any blame on his friends, so he kept quiet. As she walked away towards her partner, she said one last thing: "I'll give you four hours to think it over Tai. After that, it's judgment time. Either join us, or don't. Personally, I'm hoping that you will." She opened the large red door, and her metalloid partner slithered out. "But I'd sure love to have the pleasure of torturing you to death." She slammed the door shut. Tai stared out into space for a second, pondering what the evil tamer had said. He then turned to Agumon, who was looking at him with a concerned look.

"Don't worry Agumon, I'll never betray you, no matter what she does to me."

"Thnks Ta," Agumon muffled. He smiled (or at least tried to) and then nodded to Tai's chest, indicating to his partner that their crest was glowing brightly.

"If only it mattered."

Almost four hours went by. Tai was on the verge of passing out from having to be strapped to the stiff pole. As his head hanged from the rest of his body, he contemplated what he would do. Until he heard voices coming from outside. They're hear, he thought.

"You wouldn't have happened to see where they put our digivice would you?" The tamer of courage asked his muffled partner. Agumon shook his head. "Crud."

"This is where they keep the prisoners," He heard Zoe whisper outside. Why did she whisper? "I'll get them out of here, and you go find MetalSeadramon." What? Why would Zoe say something like that? Could it be that Kari and the rest of his friends had found their way into the fortress?

"When I confront him, I want you to keep away." A deeper, older feminine voice answered. Angewomon. So the rest of the digidestined had made it here, and Angewomon was keeping Kari safe from harm. But wait, why would Angewomon take on MetalSeadramon alone? Were the rest of the digidestined digimon going with her? And wouldn't Angewomon want Kari there just in case she was able to digivolve to Mega?

"What? Are you kidding?" Kari hissed. "I'm not going to abandon you now. And I've worked too hard to find this place, I deserve to be there." What was she talking about? Kari hadn't found the fortress: Whamon had. What was going on?

"Please understand, I don't want you to be in any more danger than you have to be."

"I'm helping you and that's final!" Kari raised her voice and spoke sternly. Tai had never heard his sister act like this before.

"If that's what you wish. I'll go find MetalSeadramon and draw him outside. Meet me when you're done."

"Good." The door then opened slightly. A thin human figure covered in draped leather clothing then slipped into the room. Both she and Tai gasped when they saw each other.

"Rika?"

"Tai?"


	40. Seconda Provenienti

**Chapter Forty: Seconda Provenienti**

"What's taking them so long?" Kari yelled as she struggled to hold on to Whamon's tongue, who himself was getting battered by another gang of Whamon. Until he could submerge, the giant ally was defenseless, and they couldn't submerge until Tai and Agumon came down the hatch.

"I'll go check." Eric replied, then stood up on the mushy tongue and ran (more like waddled) over to the rope ladder that was hanging from Whamon's blow hole.

"Hurry!" Whamon's voice boomed from the back of his throat. Eric struggled to get up the ladder quickly, but got to the top within a minute. He popped the heavy hatch open and peered outside.

"They're gone!" Eric yelled down the slender hole.

"What?" Whamon yelled back.

"They're gone! They're not up here! They must have fallen into the water!"

"If they fell into the water I would have seen them!" Whamon yelled back.

"So what happened to them?" Kari asked panicked.

"I don't know, but if they aren't top side then that means I have to submerge."

"But we've gotta find them!"

"We will, but I can't do anything about that while I'm being assaulted. Eric, close that hatch and get back down into my mouth!"

"Okay!" Eric replied, then closed the hatch and slid down the rocky ladder, landing on the spongy tongue less than gracefully. Whamon then submerged, plunging below the Whamon who were attacking him. Once under water, he was much faster then the other members of his species. After a few quick maneuvers and a high speed underwater chase, Whamon escaped his attackers.

"We need to go back and find them." Said Kari again. Her voice was filled with worry.

"I told you, they aren't back there." Whamon groaned.

"Then where are they?"

"They must have been taken. That's the only explanation."

"Taken?"

"Yes. I saw one of the Whamon's I was fighting surface for a minute and then dive back down and leave. I thought it was strange, but I didn't think much of it because I was being attacked by his friends."

"So where would he have taken Tai and Agumon?" Matt asked as he adjusted himself to sitting on the comfortable but rough tongue. They were all just glad it wasn't wet.

"Probably back to the fortress."

"Then it looks like our goal hasn't changed." Eric contemplated. "We still need to get to the fortress, we just have two things to do when we get there: defeat MetalSeadramon and save Tai, preferably not in that order."

***

"Tai... Agumon..." Rika gaped in awe at the two boys tied to the wooden stakes of the prison cell.

"Hey Rika." Tai smiled, for various reasons. He was relieved that Rika had come to get him out of there. He was also happy to see that she was all right. But most of all, he was happy to see her.

"You... you... disappeared." Rika's mind must have been racing, because the intense, angry voice she had used out in the hall was gone, and all that Tai could hear was a petrified girl who looked like she was staring at a ghost.

"Yeah, it's kind of a funny story." He replied.

"You were, you were supposed to come right back."

"We did, at least, to us."

"What?"

"The time where we was is different from the digital world. 10 minutes there equals a year here. And we were only gone for 16 and a half hours."

"But-" Rika cocked her head and let her jaw quiver. She was obviously having a tough time processing this information. "This is... impossible."

"I'm sorry we were gone for so long. If we had known how time and physics worked when we jumped through the portal, I'm sure Izzy would have made sure you came with us."

"Are the others here too?" She asked hopefully.

"Yeah. We all came back safely."

"And Kari?"

"Mhm. The whole thing was a trap Rika. Koichi led us to that world so that his friends could have all the time they needed to take over the digital world." He gave her another smile, and she then walked towards him. He smiled at her again when she came up to him, and chuckled a little. She slapped him. "Ow! Why do people keep hitting me?"

"You think this is funny?" She growled at him. "Me and Renamon have been alone for a hundred years. We thought you all were dead Tai! We've had to deal with the evil tamers all by ourselves! And you laugh?"

"I only laughed because I was happy to see you." He stopped himself from smiling this time. He didn't want to get hit again.

"Mm to" Agumon grunted. Rika turned to the yellow rookie and, realizing how uncomfortable the muzzle must be, walked over to him and snapped it off. "Thank you." Agumon breathed as he stretched his jaw muscle, which had been restricted for the past four hours.

"What are you doing here?" Rika asked as she walked behind Agumon's stake and began untying him. "How did you get captured?"

"We were all coming here to try and defeat MetalSeadramon, but we were jumped by a group of Whamon and Divermon and I was caught."

"Where are the others?" She asked as she released the final binds around Agumon and released them. She then jogged over to Tai and began working on his restrictions.

"They're with Whamon, the one that helped us across the ocean back when we were leaving File Island. When we were jumped he was taking us here, so we all had to jump into his mouth so he could submerge. But before me and Agumon could get in the Divermon boarded Whamon and threw us into one of their ally's mouths. Then we were brought here. It was all very quick and disgusting."

"So they're safe?"

"Yeah."

"Good." She grunted, releasing the last rope holding Tai. He stumbled away from the pole once he was free and stretched. "You shouldn't have come here Tai. It's too dangerous. The evil digidestined are too strong for you now."

"That's what you think." He laughed.

"What are you talking about?" Rika asked angrily. Before Tai could answer the door burst open and Zoe walked in with MetalSeadramon slithering behind her.

"Alright, as a sign of good faith I brought your digi-" Zoe dropped Tai's evolution aide as she stood stunned at the scene that had transpired in the dungeon.

"Sorry Zoe, change of plans. I decided to go with the third option: kick your ass." As he spoke, Zoe and MetalSeadramon had pulled all the way into the room, blocking the door.

"And just how do you plan on doing that?" She laughed. "Just because your girlfriend untied you it doesn't mean that you have any better chance of beating me than you did before. In case you've forgotten, I still have your digi-" She looked to her palm and realized her mistake. The digivice was lying on the floor five feet away from her, and Agumon was running across the stone floor towards it.

"Stop him!" Zoe ordered, and MetalSeadramon sprang into action, he lunged for Agumon just as the dinosaur snatched the digivice and tossed it to Tai. Unfortunately he could not dodge the monster's head as it slammed into his chest and knocked him across the room.

"Agumon!" Tai ran towards his partner, and MetalSeadramon coiled for another attack.

"Kill them!" Zoe ordered. MetalSeadramon then sprung across the room and rocketed towards Tai and Agumon. Rika watched the entire scene, helpless. Fortunately, there was someone who wasn't.

"Sakuyamon!" She screamed into the air, and her lightning fast partner responded. A millisecond later part of the roof imploded and a yellow and black blur pounced onto MetalSeadramon's neck and smacked him into the ground.

"Found you." Sakuyamon glared at MetalSeadramon triumphantly.

***

"Um..."

"What is the matter?" The dark figure in the cave asked. "Answer the question. Do you love her or not?"

"I... don't know." Renamon was forced to reply.

"How can you not know?" The dark figure growled. "It's a simple question. Answer it."

"I told you, I don't know."

"You don't know!? The maybe you aren't who I thought."

"I don't know what that means." Renamon cried.

"Renamon, if you are who I think you are, then a day will come when you are needed more than you ever have been before. On that day, the entire digital world will rest on your shoulders, and how you answer this question will determine the fate of the entire world. If you are who I think you are, then on that day, you need to know the answer to my question, because if you don't, then we are all doomed." Renamon stared out into the darkness, terrified of what this strange digimon was speaking of. "Go." He instructed. "Go back to your partner, and find the answer to the question." She complied, and began running towards the light at the exit of the tunnel.

"Who do you think I am?" She yelled out as she ran desperately to get away from the mysterious prophet.

"Our last hope." He called back.

***

"How are we supposed to get in there?" Eric asked as he stared up at the massive black building that rose out of the trees. The square building's girth wasn't it's height, however, for it only rose about four stories. It was it's girth that bewildered him. The building bulged out into every direction, almost taking up the entire forest. There was only a small beach and a few rows of trees left of the natural terrain. The five tamers and their partners sat on top of Whamon's deck, who was floating a hundred feet away from the small island that housed the tiny forest and massive black building.

"Do you think you might be able to digivolve to mega Tsunomon?" Matt asked the in-training in his arms.

"I could give it a shot." He replied optimistically. Fortunately they never had to figure out a way to get in because an entrance was about to be opened for them.

"Gyah!" The side of the building crumbled and a massive golden sea snake was tossed out of the building and into the water. They gaped at the occurrence, wondering who had attacked what was probably MetalSeadramon. They were soon answered, when a human like figure floated out of the building. It was a tall woman, covered head to toe in a form fitting blackish blue suit. Large purple and gold boots and gloves covered the woman's legs and arms up to her knees and elbows. A golden yellow chest plate and large round shoulder pads with a yin/yang symbol on each of them made up the woman's upper body armor, as well as a black belt with a small yellow fox head as the buckle, and a helmet that was also shaped like a yellow fox head. Extremely long, gray hair, tied into a ponytail, flowed in the wind. She also held a long golden staff with a large ring on the end. Eight other rings were looped to it as well, and a sharp spear sat in alignment with the rest of the staff.

"Who is that?" T.K. asked in wonder.

"It's a woman with yellow fox armor." Izzy analyzed.

"Renamon." Eric answered, although after Izzy's statement they had all figured it out themselves.

"Ow." MetalSeadramon growled as he dove into the water and rose back up, getting into a better position to fight. "That hurt."

"It was supposed to." She replied.

"You're going to pay for that little stunt!" The evil creature yelled at her, then pulled back to brace himself. "River of Power!" A blast of water came gushing out of the panel on MetalSeadramon's head and was shooting straight for Sakuyamon. She didn't look worried though.

"Talisman Sphere!" A crystalline barrier suddenly covered her and deflected the attack easily. MetalSeadramon quickly realized that his attack was worthless and stopped. "I've been preparing for to fight one of you for a long time. You won't catch me off guard. Ayah!" She then sped through the air and slammed into MetalSeadramon's chest, dropping them both underwater.

"No!" Zoe ran out of a small black (almost invisible) door on the base of the fortress and ran over to the beach with a look of horror on her face.

"Grab her digivice so she can't help him anymore!" Tai screamed behind her. Before Zoe could react she was assaulted from behind and pinned to the ground. Rika had pounced on her, and Agumon then came up to the two, grabbed Zoe's digivice, and flung it into the forest.

"Dammit!" Zoe grunted helpless on the ground.

"Tai! Agumon!" The three heroes turned to the ocean to see Kari calling to them as Whamon releasing his cargo onto the beach. The ten warriors ran towards Tai excitedly, but then stopped short when they saw who he was with.

"Rika..." Izzy muttered.

"You guys need to go now. Sakuyamon can handle this herself." Rika instructed. Then, almost as if on cue, MetalSeadramon burst out of the water with Sakuyamon in his jaws. The human-fox was struggling desperately to stop the monster from swallowing her.

"Yeah. Sure." Tai said condescendingly. "You ready to help Agumon?" He turned to his big headed partner, who nodded with determination.

"No!" Rika yelled at him, but Tai didn't listen. Instead he turned to Matt.

"Can you help to?" He asked. Matt looked to Tsunomon, who nodded, then he nodded as well.

"Guys, stop!" She yelled to everyone, trying to get them to back off of the battle. It was too late.

**"Agumon, warp digivolve to... WarGreymon!"**

**"Tsunomon, warp digivolve to... MetalGarurumon!" **The two megas then jumped into the air. WarGreymon transformed the shield on his back into a pair of wings, and MetalGarurumon did something that no one knew he could do. The two golden rods on his back twisted out and released an energy blade that acted as his own pair of wings. The two then zoomed towards MetalSeadramon and Sakuyamon.

"They're going to get creamed!" Rika sighed at Tai and Matt.

"No they aren't." Izzy stated. "Just watch."

He was right. The two mega's time in the Internet increased their strength dramatically. WarGreymon dove underwater and grabbed MetalSeadramon's tale and flew up into the air, dragging the unsuspecting digimon with him. MetalGarurumon pounced onto MetalSeadramon's neck and banged his hard metal head against it. The shock wave was more than enough to stun MetalSeadramon and get him to release Sakuyamon from his grips. MetalGarurumon then hovered into the air and dragged MetalSeadramon's head across the sky with his teeth, away from WarGreymon. The two soon held MetalSeadramon in an inescapable grip.

"Let go!" MetalSeadramon ordered in futility.

"Give us one good reason?" WarGreymon scoffed.

"Because if you don't I'll kill you!"

"Really? How?" MetalGarurumon laughed.

"He won't get the chance." Sakuyamon said triumphantly. She then rose into the air until she was level with the three other megas. "Amethyst Mandala!" She swung her staff through the air, and a beam of golden energy shot out and wrapped around MetalSeadramon's stomach. It then formed into a ring and squeezed tightly.

"Gyah!" MetalSeadramon struggled violently as the golden ring grew tighter and tighter, but there was nothing he could do about it. MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon had too powerful a grip. As hard as he tried, he couldn't escape the three megas. He struggled violently for a few minutes, and then out of exhaustion gave up. A bright light overcame him, and a second later WarGreymon was holding an unconscious Betamon in his arms. All three megas then returned to the ground, where Rika was staring bewildered at MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon, not expecting them to have so much power.

"I told you it would be easy." Izzy said to everyone.

"Rika!" Without warning T.K. and Kari pounced on the girl and pulled her in a tight hug.

"We're so glad to see you!" Kari cheered.

"I'm glad to see you too." Rika replied with less enthusiasm. It wasn't that she wasn't happy, she was just too stunned at how much her life had just changed. Five minutes ago, she and Sakuyamon were alone in the digital world fighting a losing battle to save the enslaved digimon. Now, she was with all of her friends, Zoe had been captured, and MetalSeadramon had been defeated in less than a minute. "I can't... believe it."

"Sorry we took so long to get back." Eric said with a big smile on his face as he and Izzy walked up to the girl after T.K. and Kari had released her from the hug. "We had to get some souvenirs." Rika didn't think it was funny. She slammed her knee upward.

"Just like old times, eh?" She joked as the boy staggered away.

"Yeah, just like old times." He breathed.

"Hello there Terriermon." Sakuyamon walked up to Izzy and addressed the rabbit-dog on his head. "It's been a long time."

"Woah. You got a lot bigger Renamon." Terriermon stated jokingly. Sakuyamon then swiped the rookie off of Izzy's head and gave him a deep hug. "Renamon... you're crushing me..." Sakuyamon laughed and then released her old friend.

"It's Sakuyamon now." The mega said happily.

"So, you were really only gone for sixteen hours?" Rika asked Izzy with disbelief.

"Well, sixteen and a half." Izzy corrected her. Rika glared at him, but Izzy smiled, indicating that he was just giving her a hard time. The reunion was a large relief for all of the digidestined, except for Matt and Zoe.

"Hey." Matt said sternly as he walked up to the girl, who had been tied to a tree along with her partner by WarGreymon.

"What do you want? Traitor." She growled at him with hatred.

"Are you comfortable?" He asked nervously.

"I'm tied to a tree, what do you think?"

"Listen, we're going to get that dark needle out of you. You're going to be fine."

"There's nothing wrong with me you bastard." She spit at him, but Matt dodged just in time. "There's a special place in hell for people like you." Matt was stunned when his old friend snapped at him. "A frozen lake where betrayers and mutineers are punished for eternity. I hope you drown."

"There's also I nice comfy river in the middle where the wrathful have to fight each for refuge." Eric stumbled over to the two, having partially recovered from Rika's malicious assault on him. "Question is, who really committed a sin?"

"Shut up! I wasn't talking to you." Zoe snapped.

"I don't think you're in any place to be making threats Zoe." Matt spoke forcefully at his former ally. Matt then began to walk away. Eric hopped after him. "So what are we going to do with her?"

"Well me and Tentomon will probably fly them down the MetalTyrannomon and Hakase so they can figure out how to cure her." Then we'll come back and I'm guessing go after Yolei and her partner."

"Don't be so sure!" Zoe laughed. They both turned around to see that Zoe had slipped from the ropes, and was now making a mad dash towards her fortress with Betamon in her arms.

"I'll get her!" Tai yelled, then ran after her.

"Tai, wait!" Rika called after him, then she followed.

"Well that looks familiar." Eric remarked.

Tai and Rika chased Zoe through a maze of always, almost losing her multiple times. They finally were able to bridge the gap when Zoe stopped at a room in the black hallway and slammed the door open. They ran into the room after her and found themselves in a small room that had a desk with a few buttons on it. Zoe ran over to it and opened a clear box that held a large blue button. Tai and Rika tried to grab her but the girl slammed her fist into the panel. Then the ground shook. Zoe laughed and turned around to see Tai and Rika supporting each other so they wouldn't fall as a full blown earthquake overcame the room.

"What did you do!?" Rika yelled at her nemesis, who was holding onto the desk for support.

"Nothing major. I just broke the hold that Spiral Mountain had on my territory. I may have lost this battle, but now you're stuck on a big strip of land that's about to collapse and I'm the only one that knows the only safe way out."

"What are you...?" Rika was confused by Zoe's comment, but then sprang into action once she saw Zoe running for a door in the corner of the room. Zoe was quicker, for some reason, and slammed the door in Rika's face. The tamer of love bounced backwards and was caught by Tai, who pulled her away from the door quickly. "What are you doing?" She demanded to know, but just then a slab of roof fell in front of the door and buried it, blocking the two from chasing after Zoe. The ground was now shaking even more violently, and the rest of the room was starting to crumble.

"We have to get out of here." Tai instructed.

"No. We need to go after her." Rika opposed, then ran towards the debris and started pulling it out of the way.

"Rika! She's long gone. We need to warn the others and get out of here." He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the exit.

"If we let her escape-"

"She doesn't have her digivice. She isn't a threat anymore. Come on!" Tai pulled more forcefully this time and Rika finally complied. The two then dashed out of the room and, retracing their steps, escaped into the open ocean air a minute later. What they saw terrified them. The building they had just been in was collapsing from the huge earthquake, and a massive amount of waves of all sizes were beginning to smack into the island.

"What the hell is going on!?" Eric yelled as he ran over to T.K. and Kari to help them up. They had fallen when the earthquake started and were being pulled into the sand. Tai went to help as well. The rest of the tamers were on the ship, except for Matt who was stumbling towards his brother.

"Zoe did something to Spiral Mountain. She said that the ocean territory was about to collapse!" Rika yelled as she ran onto Whamon's deck. She was greeted by her partner, who had degenerated into Renamon.

"Matt, I've got him, go!" Eric waved off Matt, who was struggling through the sand to get to T.K. He didn't want to comply, but it was too difficult for him to continue so he turned back to Whamon and climbed aboard.

"Hurry!" He yelled. Eric and Tentomon then successfully pulled the boy out of the sand and started stomping through the shaking sand with T.K. and Patamon in tow. Behind him, Tai, Kari, Agumon, and Salamon were also dragging themselves towards the ship. Then they heard a crack. As if the earthquake (which had become devastatingly powerful) wasn't enough.

"What was that?" T.K. whined as he struggled to stay on his feet.

"I don't know!" Tai yelled over the rumbling. "We'd better hurry to the ship!" They all then started to run (or at least attempt to) and made it most of the way across the beach when they discovered what the crack was. Eric had to come to a grinding halt to stop he and Takeru from falling into a massive hole that had formed in the ground. It had become invisible due to the fact that sand was flowing into it and blocking the entrance, but now that the sand was gone it popped up in front of Eric's feet and almost pulled him in. A massive gust was flowing into the crack, which everyone could now see was pulling in the ocean water as well. Tentomon had a hard time staying in the air, so he had to ground himself. Eric, T.K., Tai, and Kari then watched helplessly as the crack became even larger and separated the two groups.

"T.K.!" Matt yelled to his brother in a panic. "I'm coming!" He started for the beach.

"No!" Tai yelled. "We've got him Matt! You guys get somewhere safe!"

"What are you going to do!?" Rika yelled as she and Izzy stopped Matt from running into the whirlwind.

**"Tentomon digivolve to.. Kabuterimon!"** With the massive blue insect there as their ride, the seven piled onto his back and took off into the air.

"Go back to the desert city where MetalTyrannomon is!" Tai screamed to them as Whamon pulled desperately away from the vortex and into the relatively safe open ocean. "We'll meet you there!" Kabuterimon then flew rapidly away from the site of the crack and started towards the closest refuge he could think of: the next territory.

"Are they going to be okay?" T.K. cried.

"You remember how good a swimmer Whamon is right? He'll be fine." Tai sighed once they had finally escaped the most volatile part of the ocean. They were now flying through a peaceful, serene field of blue, although it was very windy.

"What happened?" Kari panted as she reaffirmed her position on Kabuterimon's back.

"Zoe pressed this button a control panel, and that started the earthquake." Tai explained. "She said that she broke the hold that Spiral Mountain had on her territory, and it was about to collapse.

"So does that mean it's going to fix itself as part of the digital world?" Eric asked nervously.

"She didn't say."

"And in the meantime, we're separated again." Kari sighed.

"It's fine Kari, we'll meet them back at MetalTyrannomon's city." Tai comforted.

"Right now though I'm heading towards the next territory." Kabuterimon explained. "That take off was kind of rocky. I need a rest."

"No problem Kabuterimon. As long as you get us out of here you can take all the time you need." Eric leaned back near the champion's neck. Kabuterimon flew for a few hours, trying to escape the intense wind. But he never did. In fact, the wind got stronger. The farther Kabuterimon got from the vortex, the stronger the wind became.

"What's going on?" Tai asked nervously as he tried to hold on to Kabuterimon's back.

"The wind's getting stronger. I don't know-" A thunderous crack answered Tai's question. Everyone looked down to see that the same vortex that had appeared on the fortress island was now stretching across the ocean territory. Hundreds of cracks opened out of the ocean, and soon Kabuterimon was struggling to stop the ferocious winds from pulling him into the unknown.

"I can't hold on!" Kabuterimon cried. He began to sink closer to the water.

"Look! The forest!" Kari cheered and pointed ahead of them. Sure enough, a thick green line suddenly appeared out of the horizon. As the eight got closer, they could see the beaches disappearing into the water. The forest beyond was secure.

"There's a peninsula down there." Kabuterimon coughed. "A vortex hasn't formed there yet. I'm going to land and we'll make a run for the forest."

"Won't that be dangerous?" Tai asked.

"Not as dangerous as if we keep flying." Everyone reluctantly agreed, and then Kabuterimon ungracefully stumbled onto the short peninsula. It was only a few hundred feet long, and the group could see the towering trees near the edge of the beach.

"Let's go!" Eric commanded as he hoisted the tired Tentomon onto his back. The seven then made a run for the green sanctuary. They got about halfway across the inverse bay when a loud crack sounded and the ground began to part between Eric, Kari, and their partners and Tai, T.K., and their partners.

"Get over here now!" Tai instructed, but it was too late. Something new happened. The ground below Tai and T.K. began to rise up into the air. Either that or the ground Eric and Kari were standing on began to dip into the earth. Either way, it didn't matter. They were separated. Then the two halves of the peninsula began to separate until a massive black void separated the two continental chunks.

"Keep running!" Tai ordered. "We'll meet in the forest!" Tai and T.K. then rose so high into the air that they were no longer visible. Eric and Kari looked in front of them to see that they were still level with the forest.

"How are Tai and the others going to get into the forest?" Salamon panted.

"Angemon will get them down!" Eric breathed. "But we don't have time to worry about that. We need to go fast-"

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Kari slipped in the sand and rolled towards the ravine, then slipped off the edge.

"Kari!" Salamon ran over to the edge but stumbled over the shaking sand. Fortunately Eric had already lunged after her. He landed belly first onto the sand and threw his arm down into the ravine, catching Kari's arm before she could fall too far.

"I've got you." Eric breathed heavily. Catching Kari while Tentomon was holding onto his back was a challenge. Salamon then ran up and bit onto Eric's sleeve, helping him pull Kari out of the ravine.

"Thanks." Kari thank him, but her voice was terrified.

"It's no problem. We need to keep moving." Eric then began to run, and grabbed Kari's right arm with his left, so that he was standing closer to the crack than she was. They were almost there. The forest loomed ahead of them, only a few yards away. Then Eric tripped over something in the sand. He fell head first while Kari and Salamon leaped onto the forest floor. As soon as they were there, the earthquake for them stopped. They looked back into the ocean territory that it truly was falling apart. Large slabs of the ocean floor could be seen rising into the air and then collapsing back down. But they didn't continue watching. Instead they looked back to Eric, who had gotten up and was running for the border. He almost made it. Then the beach under him crumbled downwards and he fell along with it towards the unknown.

"Eric!" Kari ran towards the edge and looked over, fearing the worst. She was relieved when she saw the boy hanging by a thread on the edge of the grassy sanctuary.

"A little help please, before the other big rock decides to fall on me." He grunted. Salamon and Kari then immediately grabbed his arm and helped him get a good enough grip so he could pull himself up. Once he was level with the girl and her partner, Eric rolled onto the forest floor and threw Tentomon off of his back. They both breathed heavily, recuperating from the trial.

"You okay?" Kari asked.

"Yeah. Great. Never better." The four of them then watched as the water and the ocean floor sink down into a dark void. They stared down the chasm to see that the entire ocean territory had fallen into the core of Spiral Mountain, and all that was left was an endless ocean of air where it once was.

"Oh my God." Eric grumbled as he watched the last grain of sand from the beach fall into the dark abyss. "She tried to kill us."

"Huh?" Kari was too tired to comprehend what he was saying.

"Zoe tried to kill us. She pressed that button so that we would be crushed by the waves and the rocks." He dropped back to his back. "Son-of-a-bitch. Pardon my French."

"But the others are okay, right?"

"Yeah, don't worry. If we can make it out of there on foot, then the others are fine." The four sat there, exhausted, for what seemed like hours, but was most likely a few minutes, staring out into the open void. It was really a spectacular sight. For miles around nothing could be seen below their feet except for darkness, but right above it was the bright blue sky.

"We should go find Tai and T.K." Kari said determinedly.

"Okay, good idea." Eric groaned as he stood up. To him it felt as if every muscle in his body had died, and he was moving on pure adrenaline. "Come on Tentomon." He painfully lifted his exhausted partner onto his back, then began walking north (or up the mountain) towards where Tai and T.K. had gone. Kari followed, hoping that Eric was right and the others were safe.


	41. Man of Science

**Chapter Forty One: Man of Science**

**File Island: 102 Years Ago**

"WAAH!" A baby Leafmon screamed into the air, summoning a trio of Elecmon to come to it's aid. They all pampered the little digimon until it calmed itself down.

"You know," One of the Elecmon sighed as he burped the little creature, "I love these little guys with all my heart, but when they all hatch at once it makes me crazy."

"We all feel that way Alex." The second Elecmon with a feminine voice patted the caretaker on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it."

Thanks Monique." He smiled, then placed the small green digimon back in it's crib. "Hey new guy! What are you up to?" He called to the third Elecmon, who was walking across the grassy fields of cribs and digitamas. The first two then ran up to the third as he reached his destination.

"What's wrong with this one?" The new employee asked about a small green digimon with what looked like a pacifier in it's mouth.

"The Pabumon? What about it?" Alex inquired.

"He never cries." The third Elecmon stated inquisitively.

"Huh?"

"I've been here for a week, and all of these babies cry off an on. Except for this one. He never does. He always just sits here with that intense look on his face."

"I don't know. I guess I just never noticed it before."

"Are you sure he doesn't cry?" Monique asked. "I've never encountered a fresh evolution that stayed silent."

"I'm positive. I've been watching him. It's almost as if he knows something."

"What do you mean?"

"What's wrong little fella?" Elecmon poked the baby digimon's stomach lightly.

"pabu, pabu," He replied incoherently.

"You're a wise little one aren't you? You know there are bigger things to worry about than if you get burped or not."

"What would a little baby digimon have to worry about?" Alex scoffed.

"Maybe what destroyed him as an adult and transformed him into a digi-egg."

"You mean the dark beacon?"

"Yes, I do."

"That's absurd Elecmon." Alex laughed. "No baby digimon has ever been consciously aware, even the babies who will grow into the Royal Knights."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because we've taken care of every child here. One of them has to be a knight. And all of them cry. What's wrong little guy?" Alex pushed past Elecmon and lifted him up. "Is it gas? Is that why you won't-" A loud crack of thunder cut the pretentious digimon off. At that moment all the baby digimon started crying (except for Pabumon, who was staring up into the sky) and the Elecmon had to kick it into gear. They all rushed to each of the babies, trying to calm them down. But for some reason they were too restless and kept on crying.

"What's wrong with them?" Monique panicked.

"Oh Yggdrasil..." Elecmon muttered to himself as he stared into the sky. Both Monique and Alex looked up to where Elecmon was staring and gasped. A large black vortex had formed in the sky, and a huge black winged demon was dragging himself out of the hole.

"What is that?" Alex muttered.

"Elecmon!" Monique snapped out of her trance. "Go to the metropolis and get some help."

"Yes ma'am." Elecmon nodded, and then ran off into the jungle.

**The Digital World: Now**

Eric, Kari, and Salamon had been walking for ten minutes, and they still had not found Tai, T.K., and their partners.

"Why is it taking so long?" Kari groaned as she stopped yet again to dump the sand out of her shoes. Although they were technically on the forest territory, when the ocean territory had collapsed it tossed a ton of sand from its beaches onto the edge of the next territory strip.

"Maybe they moved further north to try and get a better look of where we are." Eric said hopefully. "I can see a small hill in the distance. I bet that's where they went." The three then picked up their pace. Kari and Salamon pulled a little bit ahead of Eric during the brisk walk due to the fact that he had his exhausted partner hanging onto his back, but it didn't take long for the four of them to make it to the base of the hill.

"Tai!" Kari cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled into the air. There was no answer. "T.K.!" Still no answer. "Where are they?"

"Oh damn." Eric groaned, then dropped his head and began rubbing his temple. "Huh." He grunted while looking at the ground.

"What is it?" Kari asked, and Eric responded by pointing at a message scribbled into the sand. The words "Went Into Forest" were scribbled under an arrow that pointed into the greenery.

"Well that would be our answer." She said happily. "Why would they go into the forest though?"

"They probably got hungry." Eric speculated. "We haven't eaten since this morning when we left the refugee camp. It's also about to get dark." Eric glanced at the sun, which was getting very close to the tree line in front of them. "They might be looking for shelter."

"This isn't a good idea for us to be splitting up. We need to stick together." Salamon said with fear and anger.

"I know. Let's just go in there and find them. I'm sure everything is fine." Eric tried to comfort Kari and Salamon, and then walked into the forest. The two partners of light then followed him.

"Do you really believe that?" Tentomon whispered into his partner's ear while they were walking.

"No." Eric murmured in return.

***

"God Dammit!" Zoe yelled as she kicked over a barrel of food that Ken had just dragged into the dark storage room. After escaping through an underground path through to the center of the mountain, Zoe had taken a primitive elevator powered by wind up to the top of Spiral Mountain, where a small barren rock capped off the five territories. A tall castle with two immense towers connected by a bridge halfway up sat on the top of the digital world.

"You need to calm down." Ken groaned to his contemporary as he picked up the barrel Zoe had just knocked over and sat it upright. "Kicking and screaming isn't going to solve anything."

"They stole my digivice Ken!" Zoe yelled at the destined of prudence. "They stole my digivice and they defeated MetalSeadramon! Everything that I've worked for for the past hundred years was ruined in a period of five minutes!"

"Yeah. So what?"

"So what!?" Zoe screamed into Ken's ear. The tamer pressed his finger into his earlobe to test his hearing. "How could you say that!?"

"Believe it or not Zoe, you're not the most important person on this team."

"I know that! But-!"

"In fact, your defeat might actually have been the final nail in the digidestined's coffin."

"How do you figure?"

"Zoe, you blew up your territory, while they were on it. If they all escaped that, it will be a miracle. And if they did, then they have the confidence that they're strong enough to defeat us. Those fools believe that since they stopped you, they can stop the rest of us. But it won't happen. Right now, they're separated and in my and Yolei's territories. This couldn't have worked out better."

"It's going to take ages to get my territory back."

"Just get over it Zoe." Ken lifted the barrel she had previously kicked over and placed it in a pile with another group of barrels, then dusted his hands off. "In the meantime, I need to go back to my territory to deal with Rika, Izzy, and Matt. Why don't you manage the castle for awhile, since you have nothing better to do." Ken laughed, then walked away from Zoe, towards the exit to the storage room.

"Jackass." She mumbled to herself.

***

"Do you think it's real?" Kari asked in a stunned voice.

"It looks real." Eric replied hopefully.

"What if it's a trap?"

"Oh, it's definitely a trap."

"So we should stay away from it right?"

"Yeah... We should."

"But what if it's not?"

"If it's not then we'll have just passed up the greatest opportunity in the digital world to date."

"But if it is-"

"Then Salamon and Tentomon will protect us. Let's go in."

"Maybe Tai and T.K. are in there too." Kari cheered.

"Oh, if they came this way then they're definitely in there."

"So even if it's a trap then we'll find Tai and T.K."

"Yeah."

"What is so special about it?" Salamon asked obliviously. Kari and Eric stared at her with a hungry fury.

"It's... a... burger... Salamon." Kari enunciated while pointing to the building with a sign in front that had a delicious meaty treat drawn over the entire left side. "They're only the most delicious food that human kind ever made."

"And we haven't had any Earth food in about five weeks." Eric added.

"Don't you think it's odd that a human food vendor would be out in the forest of the digital world?" Salamon asked judgmentally.

"But we haven't had any Earth food in five weeks." Eric muttered.

"Yeah, but-" Kari began.

"Why don't I go check it out and see if it's safe." Eric proposed.

"What are you going to do if it's not?" Tentomon asked with recuperating strength. They had been hiking through the jungle for a day, trying to find the path of Tai and T.K. that had started with the writing in the sand, then mysteriously disappeared a few hours in. After hiking for a few more hours in what the two tamers could only hope would be the same direction that Tai and T.K. had gone, they stopped for the night. The next morning, they continued on in the same direction and came upon this Edo style building.

"Then you'll get me out of there." Eric shrugged.

"I'm not at full strength yet. I don't even know if I can digivolve."

"You're telling me that a little bit of wind tired you out that much?" Eric scoffed.

"It wasn't a little bit of wind. It was like flying through a tornado." Tentomon growled back.

"You haven't flown through a tornado."

"How would you know?"

"Would you hurry up!? I'm hungry!" Kari suddenly yelled. Eric winced, then walked forward towards the burger shack, making sure that Tentomon was secure on his back. Kari and Salamon watched Eric approach the building slowly, not wanting to trigger any possible trap outside the building. Fortunately he made it to the door without incident. He then twisted the door knob and pushed it open.

"Well?" Kari called to him. Eric poked his head in.

"It's empty!" Eric regrettably yelled back.

"What?" Kari groaned.

"There's nothing in here. It's just one big empty room. Sorry." Eric shrugged as he walked back to Kari and Salamon. "I guess we'll just have to find something else to eat." A crash behind them would end that hope, however. Eric twisted around so that he, Tentomon, Kari, and Salamon were all staring at a wild eyed green armor covered digimon with a cannon for a nose and a tank instead of legs had just blown out of the floor of the building and shattered the walls.

"That's not a very well timed trap." Tentomon commented to himself.

"Run!" Eric grabbed Kari's arm and dragged her into the forest with Salamon running right at their heels. A few seconds later they heard an explosion and forced themselves not to look back as they heard the trees shatter behind them.

"What is that?" Kari panted as they increased their speed.

"I'm guessing a Tankmon. Am I right?" Eric asked Salamon quickly.

"Yup." Salamon quickly answered. It was a good thing, for if they had been distracted much longer they might have slowed down enough to become too close to the second explosion. Bark scattered into the air and a few splinters of wood shot into the ground a few feet behind him. Eric, Kari, and Salamon increased their speed.

"Why isn't he on top of us yet?" Tentomon groaned as he struggled to keep onto Eric's back.

"He must not be able to get through the-" A third, forth, and fifth explosions, "trees. That's why he's blowing everything up."

"Good. Then can we slow down?" Kari was panting heavily.

"That's not a good idea." Eric replied quickly.

"Why?" Two more explosions.

"Because those trees won't hold him for long."

"Why are we running?" Salamon then asked obviously.

"Because he'll-" Eric began a rebuttal, but stopped when he looked over to Salamon. "Eric you idiot."

**"Salamon digivolve to... Gatomon!"** Gatomon then turned around on her heel and dashed back where they came from.

"Hyper Cannon!"

"Lightning Paw!"

"Gyah!!!" A deep, masculine scream ended the one sided battle, signaling to Eric and Kari who the obvious winner was.

"That was a really sucky trap." Gatomon laughed as she walked triumphantly back to her tamer. Then they heard five more explosions.

"Maybe not!" Kari pointed to the source of the explosions and exposed seven more Tankmon burning through the forest towards them.

"I could take them, let me digivolve." Gatomon suggested.

"Okay." Kari reached for her digivice, but Eric stopped her.

"You aren't going to stop all of them." Eric gasped. Gatomon and Kari then turned to see that there was a field of 13 more Tankmon behind them.

"That's a hell of a trap." Tentomon whispered. The four then began running again. No, not running. They bolted through the jungle. Eric and Kari moved with speed they didn't think humans could achieve. But the constant threat of a Hyper Cannon from one of the twenty Tankmon kept them moving. The protection of the thick forest didn't help either. The combined effort of twenty Tankmon burned a path in the forest so quickly that the digidestined had to struggle just to stay a few feet in front of their range.

"Eric... I'm too hungry." Kari groaned. She was slowing down.

"Kari you have to push that out of your head. We can't slow down for anything."

"I can't help it..." Kari's knees began to buckle. Eric thought quickly. If she couldn't run anymore, then Kari would be a sitting duck.

"Got any bait?" Tentomon sighed. Eric rolled his eyes, but then realized that it wasn't a joke. Rather, it was the best plan he could have come up with at the time.

"Gatomon, when I say when, grab Kari's arm and run off to the right as fast as you can."

"What?" The champion winced. "They'll catch us!"

"No they won't. Trust me." Gatomon muttered something under her breath, but then nodded to the 13 year old. Eric waited a few seconds as he scanned the forest. "You ready Tentomon?" The two were thinking along the same wavelengths.

"I'm a go." Tentomon grunted, then released Eric's right shoulder and leaned back so that he was partially facing the Tankmon.

"When!" Eric screamed. Gatomon snatched the weakening Kari's arm and bolted to the left, nearly crossing paths with a raging Tankmon. The metallic monster glanced to her, ready to attack, but something else diverted his attention.

"Super Shocker!" The small but effective blast flowed into the Tankmon's system and gave him a severe jolt. The Tankmon almost spiraled out of control, but managed to keep it together long enough to pull himself to the front of the pack and drill through the forest towards the rookie who had attacked him. "It worked." Tentomon fake cheered. "Now please move faster."

"I'm going as fast as I can." Eric grunted. "There's a clearing up ahead. I'll try to make up the distance there." After a few seconds, Eric leaped through a pair of trees and jumped into the clearing, then skidded to a stop.

"What the hell!?" Tentomon growled as Eric's knees buckled and he fell onto his palms. Once he looked up, however, he realized the problem. It wasn't just a clearing: it was an enormous field upon which a gigantic blood red castle had been constructed. Worse, Eric had just stumbled onto a greeting committee, consisting of a purple haired girl in a deep brown robe and a life sized wooden puppet with a Pinocchio sized nose, a marionette on his back, a pair of blue overalls, a red elf hat, and a massive metal mallet that looked more like the chamber of a revolver than a hammer.

"Wow. You dropped to your knees for me. A simple bow would have sufficed." The girl laughed. The digimon just stared at them with lustful eyes. It took Eric a second to realize that there was a horrible grin on the monster's face.

"Yolei. Good to see you." Eric retorted defiantly as he stood up. A crash behind him triggered Tentomon to quickly glance backward to see that the Tankmon had arrived at the edge of the clearing with smiles on their faces as well.

"That's one hell of a trap." Tentomon whispered again.

"Isn't it though?" Yolei laughed. "My favorite part was when you ran through the woods for so long that now you are too tired to resist me."

"Ma'am, there was someone else with the boy, but thanks to carelessness on the part of one of my men, "A slightly shocked Tankmon shuttered as the leader spoke to the evil tamer, "She escaped."

"Go find the girl." Yolei ordered. "And be careful, her partner can digivolve to ultimate." The lead Tankmon nodded, then motioned his men to turn around and they all rolled out of the clearing and back into the forest.

"So Yolei, why did you chop up your partner and build this ugly ass puppet?" Eric smirked, making sure to avoid eye contact with the murderous digimon.

"Hey!" It opposed. Eric jumped. He knew that Cherrymon's evolution could talk, he just didn't know that he would be so defensive.

"This is Puppetmon, Cherrymon's mega form. And I'd be careful what I say around him. He's a psychopath."

"What's a psychopath?" Puppetmon turned his head around and asked his partner innocently.

"It's someone who kills other things with no remorse." Yolei dropped her head into her hand. "Idiot." She then mumbled under her breath.

"Oh. Thanks." Puppetmon smiled. He then turned back to Eric, who still stood almost paralyzed in front of the pair. "So can I kill them now?"

"So did you kill Tai and T.K. too?" Eric asked with worry, even though he tried to hide it.

"Now why would I have Puppetmon kill someone useful?" Yolei asked with a smug smile.

"Ow. That stung."

"Yolei! Let me kill them now please." Puppetmon pleaded childishly.

"Yeah. Go ahead." Yolei said as if it were an insignificant event.

"Hey!" Eric opposed this time. "You know Zoe gave Tai a chance to join him before she would kill him."

"Zoe is an idiot." Yolei rolled her eyes.

"Well, so are you." He let out a small smile.

"What are you talking about?" Yolei growled quickly.

"Celestial Arrow!" An exploding energized arrow slammed into Puppetmon's back and knocked him forward just as Eric rolled out of the way. Angewomon then swooped down out of the sky and grabbed Eric and Tentomon, then flew into the woods.

"Go get them you idiot!" Yolei yelled at Puppetmon as he wobbled onto his feet.

"That's not a very nice thing to say!" Puppetmon childishly yelled back.

"Just go!" She gestured out into the forest. Puppetmon rolled his eyes, then ran off into the woods after the hero digidestined. Yolei then walked back to the castle wall and dropped her head against the stone building. "A button to push!" Her head flipped up in revelation. "He's right I should have gotten that. Can't believe it took me so long to figure it out."

"Hey! Slow down!" Puppetmon yelled after Angewomon as he stumbled to keep up with the much faster angel.

"Not gonna happen!" Angemon laughed.

"I'm warning you! You don't want to piss me off!"

"Or what!?" Kari called back to him.

"Kari, please don't antagonize the impulsive, childish, psychopathic mega." Eric quivered.

"Puppet Pummel!" Puppetmon swung his heavy mallet forward, and the large bullets within the head then flew out and raced towards Angewomon.

"Rise please!" Eric pleaded with the archangel who was transporting him. Angewomon swooped out of the way just in time and slithered through a break in the trees out into the open air. Once above the canopy, the four could see a field of green treetops stretching as far as the eye could see. There were only two anomalies: the clearing that housed the five story red castle, and a small mountain covered in brush.

"I'm going towards that mountain." Angewomon announced to her passengers.

"They'll probably expect that. It's kind of an obvious target." Eric spoke rationally.

"I can't carry you all for very long. Tentomon's going to have to take over for me."

"I have to do this crap again?" Tentomon groaned in between Angewomon and Eric.

"What about Tai and T.K? Yolei obviously caught them!" Kari yelled as the wind began to pick up.

"We'll figure that out when we can recuperate." Angewomon spoke. "We've all been running for awhile, we need a rest." Angewomon flew for a few more minutes and finally landed on the small peak. She lightly dropped her passengers onto a small path and then sat down, breathing heavily. They then sat for a few minutes while taking in the situation.

"One of us is going to have to digivolve to mega." Tentomon finally spoke to Angewomon.

"I know." She replied.

"Why is that?" Kari breathed heavier than anyone. The lack of food was getting to her.

"It's the only way we'll get into that castle and find Tai and T.K." Angewomon replied.

"Why is everyone always getting captured?" Tentomon groaned.

"We don't really know if they've been caught or not." Eric reasoned. Everyone gave him an obvious stare. "Although there aren't many other reasons they would just disappear like that."

"How are you guys going to get to mega?" Kari asked, refocusing the conversation.

"Tai said that Agumon and Gabumon realized their courage and friendship when they digivolved to mega." Tentomon recalled.

"And do you guys have any idea on how to do that?" Eric questioned.

"No." Said Angewomon. "But we'd better find out soon."


	42. Man of Faith

Despite the obvious Lost Reference in the titles of my last two chapters, that was not my original intention. I was trying to make a reference to _Faust_ and _The Divine Comedy_, but the only phrase I could find that addressed that particular issue was (of course) Lost's "Man of Science, Man of Faith". I'm very sorry about that. I've been trying to keep too much of one cultural reference out of my story (except of course the two that are a part of my themes, which I won't state directly), but Lost has been on my mind lately because I just finished watching it, and my mother is now watching it and constantly ropes me back in by asking me questions and whatnot.

**Chapter Forty Two: Man of Faith**

"So do we have a plan?" Kari inquired as MegaKabuterimon glided through the air towards the red castle in the distance. After a few minutes of rest, Tentomon hurried to digivolve so they could get off of the mountain before Puppetmon arrived.

"We have a basic idea." Gatomon said seriously with a hint of worry.

"We're going to sneak into the castle while Puppetmon is preoccupied with finding us, then try to slip out during that time frame too." Eric continued.

"Puppetmon has to go on foot, so our hope is that it'll take at least forty minutes for him to get there, find out we're gone, and come back."

"And what if he comes back before hand?" Kari glared.

"Then we'll just have to find some way to get the advantage."

"And how are we going to do that?"

"When I confronted Puppetmon before, he was acting very childish and impulsive," Eric explained, "He must have degenerated subconsciously when he ascended to mega, so hopefully we can take advantage of that if he catches us. That's also hopefully the best time for MegaKabuterimon or Gatomon to digivolve to mega."

"Hopefully?"

"I didn't say it was a good idea." Gatomon retorted.

"I'm going to land in the trees on the other side of the castle." MegaKabuterimon spoke as he curved around the field so its inhabitants wouldn't see him. He quickly made it to the other side and positioned himself about a half mile away from the clearing, then began to hover into the canopy below.

"This is a little too easy." Gatomon observed.

"Yeah." Kari agreed. "You would think Yolei would have more security."

"Hyper Cannon!" A voice rose from the forest floor, and a second later a large missile blasted through the deciduous leaves towards MegaKabuterimon's stomach.

"Move!" Eric yelled as MegaKabuterimon flew back, narrowly avoiding the projectile as it rose a few more hundred feet into the air, then ran out of momentum and fell back into the forest. Unfortunately, to dodge MegaKabuterimon had flipped upright so that his back was perpendicular to the ground, and at that moment his three passengers fell off of his back and dove down to the treetops. "MegaKabuterimon!"

"Crud." MegaKabuterimon twisted around quickly and blasted through the air towards the falling tamers, who were seconds from diving through the canopy and onto the hard dirt ground. He finally arrived at the lighter Kari and caught her just before Eric and Gatomon plunged into the greenery.

"No!" Kari protested.

"We're okay!" Gatomon called out a second later.

"We caught ourselves on the branches!" Eric replied as well. Kari and MegaKabuterimon both let out relieved sighs, then the ultimate lowered himself onto a standing position on a pair of interlocking trees. Eric and Gatomon crawled out of the field of leaves a few seconds later, and the four were rejoined.

"So much for the plan." Kari muttered pessimistically. "They know we're hear."

"It wasn't really a plan, so it shouldn't really matter." MegaKabuterimon shrugged.

"Hiking through the jungle won't work, so we might as well try to break into the castle from above." Said Gatomon. The other three nodded.

"Missile Storm!" A sudden barrage of weaponry sliced through the air above, aiming for the defenseless group.

"Jump!" Eric yelled. Immediately he, Kari, and Gatomon dove into the trees. MegaKabuterimon stayed to defend. He pulled into his shell and let the missiles slam into the ultimate material. Fortunately MegaKabuterimon was stronger. A second later the smoke from the missile faded off of MegaKabuterimon's shell and revealed that he was unharmed to the group of attackers hovering above him. MegaKabuterimon stood up and stared above him to see three white pterasaurs covered in blue armor.

"Do you realize how stupid it was to stay here after you lost the element of surprise?" He growled. The three Pteramon stared back at him for a second, then gulped and began to scatter across the sky. "Horn Buster!" MegaKabuterimon's electrical blast split three ways across the sky and surged through the three metallic dinosaurs. They collapsed and fell down into the forest a second later. MegaKabuterimon shook his head triumphantly, then degenerated so he could fit through the tree tops.

"You girls okay?" Eric grunted to the two partners who were ten feet under him. When they dove in, Eric had been caught on a higher branch, but Kari and Gatomon had fallen down to the lower limbs.

"Yeah we're fine!" Gatomon grunted back. "Just a little farther than we originally wanted to go." She could hear Eric chuckle under his breath.

"Gatomon." Kari said quietly to the feline's confusion.

"What's wrong Kari?" Gatomon returned in a lower but stronger voice.

"We aren't going to be able to get into that castle. They know we're here."

"Don't say that-"

"No. It's true. There's only one way we're going to be able to get Tai and T.K. out of there."

"And what would that be?" Kari was now whispering, so Gatomon lowered her voice as well.

"Everyone okay?" Tentomon asked as he pushed through the branches.

"Yeah. Who attacked us?" Eric asked back.

"Some Pteramon. I took care of them though."

"Oh. Dinosaurs with missiles. Swell." With that, Tentomon pulled his partner out of the trees and began levitating to the ground. When they landed, they heard an outburst from above.

"Are you crazy!" Gatomon yelled. "That's suicide! There's no way I'm letting you do that!"

" Do you want them to find us?" Eric groaned. Gatomon shot an angry look down at he and Tentomon, prompting the boy to shut up.

"I'm not asking for your permission. But you're the only one that can help me." Kari said as Tentomon rose into the air and pulled Kari out of the trees. Once he landed, Gatomon leaped from her branch and landed gracefully on her feet.

"You're not doing it Kari, and that's final!" Gatomon ordered again.

"It's Tai! And T.K.!" Kari emphasized. "Agumon and Patamon!"

"We'll find some other way!" Gatomon spat back.

"What's going on?" Eric asked obliviously.

"There is no other way!" Kari yelled, ignoring Eric's question.

"There they are!" A voice yelled within the forest. A moment later a series of explosions boomed around them.

"Come on!" Eric yelled, and began running away from the explosions. Tentomon and Gatomon followed, but Kari stayed put. They were almost twenty feet away before they realized that Kari wasn't behind them.

"Kari!" Gatomon yelled back to the girl in the depths of the forest. "Kari come on!" Kari just shook her head.

"What is she doing?" Eric panicked.

"No, dammit." Gatomon growled to herself. She then ran back towards her partner.

"What are you doing!?" Eric started to run after Gatomon, but Tentomon held him back.

"Freeze!" A quartet of Tankmon circled Kari and Gatomon before the feline could drag the eight year old away, and before anyone could rebel a large net had been thrown over them and the Tankmon were pulling out of the clearing.

"No!" Eric tried to yell, but Tentomon clasped his claw over Eric's mouth to muffle the sound so the group of Tankmon couldn't hear him. Eric was about to protest and tell Tentomon to go after them, until he saw another group of 16 Tankmon joining the four abductors in the distance. "Kari." Eric muttered as he pushed away from Tentomon. The boy then dropped to his knees and fell back first into a tree.

***

Occam's Razor- The principle attributed to 14th century logician William of Ockham that states "Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily." The basic meaning is that in a situation where there are two or more explanations, one should assume that the one with the most proven facts and least amount of variables or objects is most likely the correct choice.

Allegory of the Cave of Socrates by Plato- A group of people live their entire lives chained in a cave staring at a blank wall. A fire roars in the background. The only thing they see are the shadows cast by their captors walking back and forth between them and the fire holding different objects. These prisoners have never seen anything in the world except these shadows, and believe them to be reality. A prisoner is freed from his shackles and allowed to walk around the cave. He begins to see the true form of the objects that have been casting shadows against the wall, learning the true nature of what he believed to be reality for his entire life. He is then allowed to wander outside the cave, and is enlightened about the true nature of the world. This allegory generally refers to the philosopher who is enlightened about the true nature of the world, but it can be interpreted in many other ways.

***

"Eric!" Tentomon waved his talon in front of his partner's face, who was unresponsive. For the past ten minutes, Eric had been sitting against a tree, staring off into space, and none of Tentomon's encouragements would snap him out of it. "Eric! Wake up!"

"It's not real," Eric finally whispered. He didn't talk directly to Tentomon. Rather, he stared off into space and spoke with no emotion.

"What?" Tentomon cocked his head in confusion. "What's not real."

"This. This world. It's not real. It can't be. It's all in my head."

"Are you crazy?"

"Yes. That's my point." Eric came out of his whisper and began to speak clearly but still spaced out.

"Why would you say that?" Tentomon growled. "Why would you say my world isn't real?"

"It's Occam's Razor." Eric began. "The simplest explanation is most likely the correct one."

"You're not making any sense. Would you just tell me what's wrong with you?"

"What sounds more realistic: I fell through a wormhole to another dimension where evil monsters kidnapped a little girl and a cat who can transform into an angel? Or did I fall into a stream, bang my head against a rock, and fell into a coma and am dreaming all of this up."

"What?"

"Or maybe I almost drowned, the water messed with my brain, and I'm in a mental institution because I've gone insane."

"Why are you saying this?"

"That would be Brain in a Vat."

"Stop it!" Tentomon screeched. Eric glanced at Tentomon with no emotion.

"You're probably some doctor trying to give me medicine, but I keep punching you and biting you."

"How can you possibly believe that you could be dreaming all of this up? Didn't you tell me that you had an uninventive imagination?"

"You just look like a big beetle. Not exactly original."

"You're an idiot."

"No, I'm insane. I just have to see it. Now that I realize I'm in a trance I just have to see the world for what it really is, and I'll snap out of it. Unless I'm in a coma and then I'm screwed."

"You say it's Occam's Razor. What if it's not. What if it's the Allegory of the Cave?"

"What?"

"The Allegory of the Cave. A group of people spend their lives chained up in a-"

"Yeah I know what it is. How do you know?"

"We have television and books here Eric!"

"Then how come you didn't know what Occam's Razor was?"

"That's not the point! And I didn't finish the book. But what if this is the Allegory of the Cave? What if you're not insane? What if your eyes were opened up to what the world was really like and how it worked? What if Earth is the cave, and the digital world is the sunny field outside that is true reality?"

"How can you be so sure?" Eric asked with a hint of interest.

"Because I know I'm real Eric. The question is, do you know that? How far are you going to let your logic take you before you let yourself rely on a little faith?" Tentomon tapped the necklace hidden under Eric's light gray shirt. "Besides, how many hallucinations have you ever heard of that give you a portal out of there?" Eric stared at him for a few seconds, then finally spoke.

"I'm Sorry." He said simply.

"I know you are."

"They just took her. Again. It overwhelmed me."

"I know it did."

"I don't know why I got this crest when I can be so stupid sometimes. No, most of the time."

"I know you don't."

"Although it's really obvious why you got it."

"Huh?"

"There's a big purple light coming out of your back." Eric nodded behind the large insect. Tentomon turned his head around to glance at the side of the beam.

"Oh. Check that out."

"So what do we do?"

"Kari and Gatomon are being taken to that castle. If we don't want anything to happen to them, then we need to make sure Yolei and Puppetmon don't get to them first."

"If we can distract Puppetmon long enough then Kari and Gatomon can find a way to get out of there, maybe even find Tai and T.K. as well."

"Exactly."

"That was probably her plan. Get captured so that she could break Tai and T.K. out from the inside."

"No wonder Gatomon was flipping out. We need to move. It's been ten minutes, she's probably at the castle by now."

"Great."

"It's kind of your fault."

"Right. Sorry."

***

"Puppetmon!" Yolei growled as she walked towards the forest to meet her partner, who was dragging himself through the brush with a few twigs caught in his gears. "How the hell did you lose them? It's a bird woman and two kids!"

"They can fly! What was I supposed to do: hop after them?" The mannequin protested.

"You could have attacked them!"

"I did, they moved."

"Yggdrasil, you were so much more tolerable as Cherrymon. Smarter too."

"I can hear you ya know."

"That was the point. Idiot."

"You know I'm stronger than you!" Puppetmon protested.

"And I can degenerate you in half a second." Yolei growled. "We're balanced. Get over it." Puppetmon grumbled something under his breath, then began walking towards the castle, heading for a large wooden door visible in the distance on the far end. "Where are you going?"

"I'm tired, I'm going to take a nap."

"No! Go look for them."

"Shut up."

"You-!"

"Miss Inoue," One of the Tankmon popped out of the forest and surprised the empress.

"What!?" Yolei snapped as she turned around to glare at the mechanical hybrid. Tankmon quivered for a moment, but mustered the courage to speak up.

"We captured the girl and her partner. She's being brought into the dungeon right now, waiting for you to 'deal with her'."

"Perfect." Yolei released a wide smile. "Good job. For once. Go find the other one."

"Of course ma'am." The Tankmon nodded, then pulled back into the forest.

"Puppetmon!" Yolei yelled to the construction as it neared the doorway.

"What!?" Puppetmon groaned back.

"They found one of the tamers!" She shouted with glee. Before either one could respond Puppetmon suddenly leaped into the air and pounced in between Yolei and the forest just as the Tankmon who had just departed was thrown into the clearing towards Yolei's feet. Puppetmon knocked the machine away with his mallet, shattering the champion into data as the two evil partners watched a large red beetle hover out of the forest and land in front of them at the edge of the clearing.

"Hello again." Eric said happily as he jumped off of his partner's back.

"Do you really think it was smart to reveal yourself to us, of all people?" Yolei growled with a hint of surprise.

"Eh. I was bored."

"Kill them quickly please."

"Of course." Puppetmon smiled, then leaped towards MegaKabuterimon with his mallet over his head. "Puppet Pummel!"

"Horn Buster!" MegaKabuterimon blasted a jolt of electricity at the monster and hit him in the gut. It didn't do any serious damage, but was enough to knock him to his side. Puppetmon rolled to the ground and jumped back to his feet. "Electro-Shocker!" MegaKabuterimon immediately fired a sphere of lightning at the mannequin. Puppetmon barely dodged in time, tumbling to the ground as the orb exploded into a set of trees and scattered a mass of splinters towards Puppetmon.

"Dammit!" Puppetmon swung his mallet in front of him and knocked away the splinters, more out of irritation than necessity. "Those were cheap shots!" MegaKabuterimon wasn't done.

"Rhino Charge!" MegaKabuterimon was almost immediately on top of Puppetmon, about to stab him with his charged forked horn.

"Ayah!" Puppetmon used his mallet to thrust himself into the air, then rolled through the air over MegaKabuterimon's back and landed somewhat gracefully a few feet away from the ultimate insect. But MegaKabuterimon didn't wait for him to recuperate.

"Blue Lightning Wave!" MegaKabuterimon fired a stream of electricity into the air, and a second later beams of electricity were shooting down around Puppetmon. Puppetmon jumped out of the way hastily to avoid the wild blasts of discharge.

"Puppetmon he's not giving you a chance to rest so he can keep the element of surprise!" Yolei yelled to her partner as the mega dodged the electrical discharges.

"I know that! I'm not an idiot!" Puppetmon protested as the beams began to fade away.

"You could have fooled me!" Eric laughed at the childish digimon. Puppetmon turned to him, then started running towards him in an angry rage.

"No! You moron!" Yolei blasted at her partner, who didn't see the giant beetle heading for his side.

"Rhino Horn!" MegaKabuterimon pounced towards Puppetmon with a horn full of energy, seemingly about to spear Puppetmon in the gut. But Puppetmon had planned this. As soon as MegaKabuterimon was within range, Puppetmon swung his mallet to his right and it collided with MegaKabuterimon's horn. The red monster spun out of control and slammed into the ground before rolling into the nearest row of trees. "Ow."

"Who's the idiot now?" Puppetmon chuckled.

"Still you Peter Pan." Eric mocked. The mannequin twisted around and shot him a dirty look.

"And why is that?"

"If you weren't an idiot you would be able to figure it out."

"What?"

"Oh, G- dammit!" Yolei flew into a rant on the castle side of the field.

"What?" Puppetmon yelled again, missing the obvious fact.

"They're distracting us!" Yolei spoke loudly but slowly. "The girl let herself be captured willingly so she could find their friends!"

"Oh well that's not fair." Puppetmon said innocently.

"Huh. I would have expected a bigger reaction from you than that." Eric said to the psychopath.

"I'm not worried." Puppetmon smiled.

"And why is that?"

"Why don't you beat me and find out."

"That can be arranged." Eric shrugged.

"What?" Puppetmon stared in confusion as Eric swiped his hand over his digivice and tapped the button.

"No!" Yolei protested.

**"MegaKabuterimon digivolve to... HerculesKabuterimon!" **A bright purplish light overcame the area as the trees holding MegaKabuterimon up shattered. A second later a ten story digimon loomed over the castle, the trees, and the digidestined below.

"Oh Yggdrasil." Puppetmon and Yolei both muttered at the same time.

Eric laughed as Yolei and Puppetmon stared up at the massive digimon in awe. HerculesKabuterimon truly was a mammoth. His red body was now covered by pale-golden armor that looked similar to, but much better than, MegaKabuterimon's. Huge claws extended from the monster's three sets of appendages. They were much more muscular than MegaKabuterimon's. The shell covering his wings were enormous, casting a shadow over the entire castle due to the setting sun. He now only had one pair of wings, but they were so big they seemed as if they could support two of these creatures. His horned head piece was his most impressive feature, however. The forked horn was gone. Instead, two crescent horns jutted out from opposite sides and curved out into wide arches. A third, more bulky horn ejected from the same place as the champion Kabuterimon's, and a few smaller thorn like objects protruded from that one. A smaller, curved horn sat on the crown of the monster's head, forming a square with the other three. Of course his fleshy, three sided jaw looked as deadly as ever.

"Boo." HerculesKabuterimon said lowly, an attempt to mock the duo of evil. His voice was so loud that if he had said anything higher than his whisper, it might have shattered the two human's eardrums.

"So your name is HerculesKabuterimon now huh? Another long name. Joy."

"You think some girth is going to help you? Puppetmon has been a mega for 100 years! You've been one for two seconds!" Yolei screamed.

"Well then, let's put it to the test." HerculesKabuterimon smiled.


	43. Leviticus

I'm so sorry it took me so long to write this chapter, but I had a massive case of writer's block. It's gone now though, and I'll try to step up my chapter frequency. Hopefully the long wait will be rewarded though, as I think that this is one of my better chapters. It's longer and well written, and doesn't contain any stupid Lost references (which I once again apologize for). Also, I really hated how I ended my last chapter, so I edited it a little. It's nothing special, but you might want to check it out just in case you hated it as much as I did. One last note, before I write The Digimon Omnibus: Olympians, I'm going to edit this story, add some more descriptive detail in the beginning, and get rid of any stupid Lost and irrelevant pop culture references, like my SNL reference and the whole numbers scene (I'll still keep Tai's freak-out, but I'll make it for a more realistic reason than seeing some numbers on a wall). So that I don't have to keep making these stupid references without directly stating their point in the story, I'll say that Piedmon's Absolution takes place in May of 2006.

**Chapter Forty Three: Leviticus**

The hike through the forest was harsh. The Tankmon had thrown a bag over Gatomon's head, so she couldn't see where she was going. She couldn't tell what Kari's condition was either. She thought she might have heard her grunt every so often, but couldn't be sure. Gatomon thought about calling out to her, but the Tankmon barrel pressed against her back convinced her otherwise. She could only hope that her partner was okay. She was also concerned about Kari's digivice. They must have taken it from her, since Kari hadn't initiated a digivolution, but based on what Kari had said before, she couldn't be sure.

Kari had said that the only way to save Tai, T.K., Agumon, and Patamon would be to let the Tankmon capture them. From within the castle, Kari and Gatomon could then break out and search for their friends. Gatomon hated the idea. It was suicide. It was likely that instead of taking them to the castle's prison, they would be directed to Yolei and Puppetmon, who would execute them on the spot, just like they were going to do to Eric and Tentomon.

That brought up other questions. Had Yolei and Puppetmon really captured Tai and T.K., like they speculated? If they did, had Puppetmon done something to them? And if he didn't, then why? Why would they spare Tai, Agumon, T.K., and Patamon, but try to execute Eric and Tentomon? And what would Yolei and Puppetmon do to them? Were they worthy enough to be thrown in prison instead of being executed, like they hoped had happened to Tai and T.K.?

Gatomon's thoughts raced while she was being herded into what she could only hope was not oblivion. Fortunately the walk wasn't a long one, albeit still difficult. They hadn't landed far from the castle when Kari and Gatomon were captured, so the walk was only about ten or twenty minutes long. One minute Gatomon was stumbling through the thick vines and dense leaves of the forest floor, and the next she had placed her feet onto soft, clear, grass. At that moment Gatomon knew that one way or another, their journey was about to come to an end.

"So what do we have hear?" Gatomon heard a deep, metallic voice ask a few yards ahead of them.

"We captured two of the destined." One of the Tankmon sounded to her left. "We're hear to bring them to masters Yolei and Puppetmon."

The original voice responded. "They're in the forest right now, searching for the other two. I'll take them to the dungeon to await master Yolei's verdict."

Yes! Gatomon thought to herself. The Tankmon were placing them in a cell for now. That gave them time to try and find a way to escape. Of course, it didn't matter if Gatomon couldn't digivolve and fight her way throughthe hoards of Tankmon waiting outside the castle, and whoever this mysterious guard was. Still, it was better than an immediate confrontation with Puppetmon.

"Take the bags off of their heads." The first voice growled again. "I don't want to have to deal with them blind." The Tankmon responded. Immediately the bag on Gatomon's head was slipped off of her shoulders, and Gatomon was able to take in her surroundings. It took a minute to adjust, because the sun was blaring and the thick bag did not let in any light. That, and the fact that she had been in the dark forest before being taken made for an unpleasant release from the bag. Fortunately it didn't take long to realize her surroundings.

It wasn't a special sight. A small grass field stretched from the forest to the castle wall, maybe a dozen yards away. The red facade of the castle was criss crossed with the outline of brick, and stretched across the field for an almost indeterminable distance. The forty foot high by maybe mile long wall was completely bare. The only abnormality on the wall was a small wooden door lined with metal braces.

A group of five Tankmon surrounded the feline. She guessed that the other 15 had something else to do. This was good. If Kari could get a hold of her digivice, then Gatomon could easily handle five Tankmon as Angewomon. She turned to her left to see Kari standing silently by two of the Tankmon. Things were looking up.

The eighth person in the group did not thrill her as much. Standing near the doorway was a human sized digimon covered in rotund, medieval armor. Not one part of his skin was showing, except for the deep blue eyes peering out of his grated helmet. A thin tapestry hung from the monster's waist, bearing a symbol similar to an eagle. An intimidating sized sword was planted into the ground next to him, and a shield was strapped to his back.

"Come with me." The Knightmon instructed. He waved his hand from Kari and Gatomon to the small wooden door a dozen yards away. The two girls followed him. Gatomon was not intimidated by the Knightmon. She knew that in a fair fight, she could easily take on any ultimate digimon. But it wouldn't be a fair fight. Those five Tankmon would put a damper on her plans. Fortunately, she wouldn't have to worry about them. As soon as Kari and Gatomon started walking, the Tankmon pulled away from the clearing and started into the forest. She was back in the game. With the five Tankmon gone, it would be a breeze to handle the Knightmon as long as Kari had her digivice.

"Where is the girl's digivice?" Knightmon asked just before the Tankmon were gone.

"We couldn't find it when we captured them. She must have dropped it in the forest." The closest Tankmon answered.

Damn.

"Keep moving." Knightmon growled. Gatomon and Kari complied. They started moving faster to keep up with the Knightmon, as to not piss him off. The last thing Gatomon needed was to have to deal with an angry Knightmon when she didn't have the ability to ascend to ultimate. So she walked faster, making sure to keep ahead of Kari to make sure the girl could escape if need be. But she needn't have bothered, for Kari didn't have the ability to run. Gatomon turned her head to make sure her partner was alright, and saw that she was limping.

"Kari! Are you okay?" She twisted around and ran for her partner.

"Hey!" Knightmon threw his arm out and latched onto Gatomon's shoulder, then threw the feline in front of him. "Wrong way!" Gatomon glared at him, calculating how to handle the situation.

"She's hurt. She needs a medic." Gatomon finally spat.

"In a few hours it won't matter." Knightmon replied apathetically. He then pushed Kari forward. "Let's go." Knightmon led them towards the door, then yanked it open with some difficulty. Kari and Gatomon peered in to see a long, shadowed passageway that led deep into the castle. Knightmon pushed the two girls in and began their journey to the dungeon. Gatomon walked in between Knightmon and her partner for the next few minutes, making sure to keep glancing back at Knightmon every so often to make sure he didn't decide to kill them now and score a few extra points with his bosses. The rest of her attention was targeted towards Kari, who could barely put any weight on her left leg. Gatomon wondered to herself, what had happened to her?

The ultimate led the two partners through a dark hallway for the first few minutes, then stopped to open a steel lined wooden door shrouded in shadows. Gatomon noted that there were four stars scribbled in the middle. He pushed the door open and pushed the two girls into a new room. As Knightmon closed the door behind them, they found themselves in another shrouded hallway. The walls were plain, except for an array of steel bars placed systematically along each wall.

"A prison." Gatomon muttered to herself.

"Not just any prison," Knightmon grumbled as he pushed the two girls farther down the hallway. "This specific block is designed to hold champion level digimon like yourself. There won't be any weaseling yourselves out this time, especially without your digivice. I've heard about your history." Knightmon stopped at a set of bars 20 feet into the hall. He took a set of keys off of his hip and unlocked the cage, then threw Gatomon inside. After slamming the door shut, he turned to the empty cell directly across from Gatomon's, unlocked it, and tossed the limping Kari inside. He slammed it shut, then returned the keys to his belt and started to walk towards the exit.

"Why are you doing this?" Gatomon asked quietly.

"What do you mean?" Knightmon stopped and turned back to the feline.

"Why would you work for someone who suppresses us? They're evil-"

"I know that," Knightmon growled back, "But it's not like I have a choice. In this new world they've created, you're either with them or against them, and I'd rather live to see another day if that's alright with you."

"I get it. You're a coward."

"Excuse me?" Knightmon ended his apathetic tone and stomped to the edge of Gatomon's cage.

"Instead of fighting for what is right, you chose the easy way out and aligned yourself with the enemy. After everything me and my friends did to stop Devimon and the evil digidestined, digimon like you were too scared to continue on in our absence."

"You have no idea what it is like here now!" Knightmon slammed his fist into the bars, making Gatomon wince. She noticed that the ultimate made a slight indention in the prison door. "And if you really cared about what was right for our world then you wouldn't have left!"

"We were gone for 16 and ½ hours, we didn't-"

"Leave him alone Gatomon." Kari said solemnly while sitting against the wall of her cell.

"Kari-"

"Your partner's right, it would be in your best interest to shut up." Knightmon growled with less emotion. Gatomon glared at him, but kept quiet. She didn't want to upset Kari. "That's very good of you." Knightmon then turned around and returned towards the door. A few seconds later the two girls heard the door swing open and slam shut. They were alone, at least to their knowledge.

"Kari, are you alright?" Gatomon sprang to the edge of the cage so she could get as close as she could to her partner. "What's wrong with your leg? What did they do to you?"

"Shh..." Kari pressed her index finger against her lips to silence her partner for the moment.

"Wha...?" Gatomon stared at her confused.

"Quiet." Kari whispered. She waited a few seconds, trying to detect any noise in the silence. Gatomon listened as well. It took her a second, but Gatomon could eventually detect the faint sound of footsteps getting quieter and quieter. She realized that Kari was waiting until the Knightmon in the hallway beyond was gone. Gatomon waited for a few more seconds, and when she could no longer detect the footsteps of the Knightmon, she finally spoke.

"Kari what's going on?" Gatomon urged.

"Have a little patience will ya?" Kari whispered happily. Gatomon tilted her head in confusion as the now happy girl stuck her left foot out and slipped off her shoe.

"What are you doing?" Kari didn't answer. Instead, she reached inter her shoe and pulled out a small white, digital clock-like device.

"Your digivice!"Gatomon cheered quietly.

"Shh!" Kari urged. She put her shoe back on and then stood up, stretching to the edge of the cell. "Time to find the others." She smiled again before pressing the button on her digivice. Gatomon tried to keep as quiet as possible as the burst of bright light streamed across the black hallway, illuminating every crack and dent as it flowed into Gatomon's body. A few seconds later, the tall angel Angewomon stood in the middle of her cell, taking up most of the room.

"I'll try to be as quiet as possible." Angewomon smiled. "Heaven's Charm..." She wrapper her palms around a shaft of energy as its massive bulk form of a cross was created. She then swung it over her shoulder and slammed it forward against the cell bars. The champion-resistant beams shattered upon impact, freeing Angewomon from her prison with a loud clatter.

"He'll have heard that." Kari noted.

"It doesn't matter. He's in for a nasty surprise if he tries to attack us." Angewomon walked over to Kari's cell and pulled the energy cross over her shoulder. "Stand back." Kari complied. She backed into the corner of the cell as much as possible and swung her cross down like a hammer, obliterating the steel barrier. Kari was now free as well.

"What in Yggdrasil's name is this?" Knightmon stormed down the dark hallway towards Angewomon and Kari. He didn't realize that Angewomon had digivolved, only that she had escaped. Halfway down the short corridor Knightmon pulled his massive sword from its sheath and began a rhino charge towards what he thought was the champion Gatomon. "I warned you!"

"And I warned you!" Angewomon leaped from the shadows and threw her hammer forward, blocking Knightmon's blade. Once he realized the feline had digivolved, the ultimate monster dropped his sword and scrambled backwards to escape her righteous mallet.

"You digivolved? How?" He muttered.

"Because my partner was smart enough to fool a coward." She replied judgmentally.

"You have to understand. I only joined them because they were too-"

"Don't abandon your convictions now. You were a coward before when you joined the evil digidestined, and if you think that switching sides now will correct that error, you are dead wrong. Fight for your masters and preserve what little dignity you have left." Knightmon didn't speak. He sat sprawled on the floor, staring up at Angewomon nervously. Although he had barely clashed with her, he had felt the power emanating from Angewomon's cross.

"Angewomon, I know your angry with him, but we need to find Tai and T.K. and he might be a good source of information." Kari tapped her partner in the back, as she could not reach her shoulder. Angewomon glanced back to her for a second, then turned back to Knightmon and stood in silence for a moment.

"That's a good idea." Angewomon finally reasoned. She then dropped her energy cross, which dissipated before it hit the floor, and grabbed the weaker ultimate's neck. "Where are our friends!?"

"What friends?" Knightmon moaned cautiously.

"The two humans that you kidnapped on your bosses orders, where are they? What cell are they in?"

"Y-you must be c-confused." Knightmon stuttered. "We don't have any humans here."

"What!" Angewomon shook the scared knight violently.

"W-we don't have any humans here. They're gone."

"What do you mean they're gone!?"

***

"Get on my back." HerculesKabuterimon instructed quietly as he and Puppetmon circled each other.

"It's kind of safer down here big guy." Eric replied warily.

"If I fall over, you're dead." HerculesKabuterimon answered in the same low tone.

"Good point." Eric ran forward and leaped onto HerculesKabuterimon's back. Despite the fact that HerculesKabuterimon still retained the crevices that allowed Eric to ride on his back, the ten story digimon was not an easy climb, so Eric settled on a lower point 20 feet up the monster's back. "Please don't sit down."

"Puppet Pummel!" Puppetmon jumped right into the action. Once he snapped out of his awe, he barely gave Eric time to secure himself before attacking. He swung his mallet forward and unleashed the massive bullets within.

"Hyper Blaster," A crackling orb of energy formed in each of HerculesKabuterimon's massive palms, and he then slammed all of them forward where they pulled together into an enormous electrical sphere, which collided with the mallet's ammunition. Obviously, a thunderous explosion followed, continued by a massive smoke cloud.

"Puppet Pummel!" Puppetmon didn't wait for the cloud to settle. He immediately leaped through the field of smoke and pounced into HerculesKabuterimon's chest, then swung his mallet into HerculesKabuterimon's jaw. The mega beetle expected this, however. He twisted his head to the side so that the hammer missed, then pushed into the air so that Puppetmon lost his friction and was forced off the monster's chest. Puppetmon stumbled onto the ground as HerculesKabuterimon soared into the air, out of reach of the mannequin.

"Puppetmon get serious!" Yolei demanded. She had already fled the battlefield and was now standing on the edge of the roof of her castle fortress.

"I can't fly! What do you expect me to do!?" Puppetmon complained.

"Giga Scissor Claw," A crackling above Puppetmon's head refocused the mega, but didn't give him enough time to dodge the bolt of lightning that struck down on him like the wrath of God. Puppetmon collapsed like a rag doll on the ground a second later.

"You know Yolei..." Eric said tiredly as he had just climbed the rest of the distance of HerculesKabuterimon's back and was now on the monster's shoulder, "Puppetmon may be stronger, but he's a lot dumber too."

"Ayah!" Puppetmon launched himself off of the ground surprisingly and drove his head into HerculesKabuterimon's chest before the insect could react. The behemoth couldn't help it as he was jolted across the sky by the monster's powerful force. "Call me stupid again!" Puppetmon yelled manically before he lifted his hammer and slammed HerculesKabuterimon in the jaw. The fresh mega could not take the hit and lost his balance, spiraling out of the sky and crashing into the forest a second later. The shock wave was particularly hard on Eric, who upon HerculesKabuterimon's landing had to roll off and into the forest.

"Ow..." HerculesKabuterimon groaned as he recovered from the surprise attack.

"Puppet Pummel!" Puppetmon's attack was relentless. He flew down from the air and cracked his mallet over HerculesKabuterimon's head as he tried to stand up.

"Gah." HerculesKabuterimon tried to suppress a scream, then a thought occurred to him. "Eric, cover your ears." He whispered, although his whisper sounded like a low roar. Eric didn't argue. He jammed his thumbs into his ear canals and awaited the inevitable.

"Puppet-" Puppetmon flipped into the air for another attack, but never got the chance.

"RRAAAAAAWWWWWW!" HerculesKabuterimon let out a glass shattering roar, which was magnified by the obviously large size of his voice box. Puppetmon was immediately immobilized by the sound waves and collapsed onto the ground in agony. To add insult to injury, he let go of his mallet before he fell onto the forest floor and it dropped from the sky into his gut. Fortunately HerculesKabuterimon's scream didn't last long, only a few seconds. Unfortunately Puppetmon had been completely thrown off balance by the unexpected move and couldn't seem to stand up. "Double Horn Buster," HerculesKabuterimon jumped up to the ground and charged his triad of horns with a current and charged towards Puppetmon just as he stumbled to his feet. The mega then bashed his skull into the relatively tiny monster's body and sent a jolt of electricity through his defenseless form.

"That looked easy." Eric commented as he dragged himself off of the ground and stumbled over to HerculesKabuterimon, who was also struggling to stand up.

"Tell that to my chest." HerculesKabuterimon replied sarcastically.

"At least it's over: for the moment." Eric and HerculesKabuterimon both stared at Puppetmon for the next few seconds, making sure that he wasn't going to get up. "Yep, it's definitely over for now."

"At least until he wakes up and starts smacking me around with his hammer again." Was HerculesKabuterimon's groaned reply.

"Well there's an easy solution for that." Eric walked cautiously over to the collapsed Puppetmon and grabbed the handle of the enormous mallet by the monster's feet, then began to drag it across the forest floor back towards HerculesKabuterimon. "Dear Lord, this thing weighs a ton!"

"I got it." HerculesKabuterimon reached over to Eric and grabbed the hammer with ease with his upper right arm, then crushed it with his palm. "We should go to the castle and get our friends out of there."

"Do we have to? Tai's going to kill me when he finds out I let his sister get caught to save him."

"I'm sure he'll understand."

"Yeah, right. Just make sure Puppetmon doesn't have any spare mallets lying around."

"BOOM!!!" Eric ducked down just in time after hearing the quaking noise to avoid the splinters from a defenseless tree as it exploded.

"We've got company." HerculesKabuterimon grumbled more annoyed than scared. A second later a Tankmon burst out of the tree line into the clearing HerculesKabuterimon's and Puppetmon's battle had created. A few more of his contemporaries followed with angry, vengeful expressions.

"You're a little late." HerculesKabuterimon smiled at the trio of metallic champions. The three quickly looked up at the new mega, and realized their limitations. They cowered backward almost immediately. "That's what I thought."

"Gah!" Puppetmon launched himself off of the ground surprisingly (again) and drove his skull once again into HerculesKabuterimon's chest. This time the mega had absolutely no idea what was happening and was knocked backwards into another part of the forest. Puppetmon landed and immediately sprinted after him, leaving Eric alone with the three Tankmon. The boy stared at the three machines with no emotion for fear of causing them to react to him, while the trio stared back at him with the same blank expression. But it wasn't for long. One of the Tankmon slowly started to smile evilly, and the others soon followed suit.

"Damn." Eric whispered to himself. Then the Tankmon attacked. As a group they lurched forward and started quickly towards him. Eric knew better than to be a deer caught in the headlights however. As soon as the Tankmon started moving Eric pivoted on his heel and broke away from the newly created clearing and jumped into the forest, vanishing into the underbrush.

"Get him!" The lead Tankmon screamed and sped up to plow through the trees. The others changed to a quick speed as well and filed into the path after him. A few seconds after they left, a fourth Tankmon rolled into the clearing from the direction of the castle-fortress with a long purple haired girl in a dark brown robe standing on the platform above the monster's treads.

"I think they split up madam." The Tankmon observed to his passenger, referring to the small path that his fellow Tankmon had just created and the obliterated tree tops that indicated where HerculesKabuterimon had gone.

"What was your first clue?" Yolei groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Which trail do you want to follow madam?" Tankmon asked, ignoring the obvious insult.

"Puppetmon can take care of himself. Follow your friends after the boy so we can make sure he doesn't do anything sneaky."

"Yes ma'am." The Tankmon nodded and then trekked off into the forest path.

***

Eric was not an athlete. He wasn't fast or consistent on the track. He constantly fumbled during sports at gym class. Eric was merely a semi-well built young teen who sometimes liked to hike and occasionally knew how to fight for survival, which up until five weeks ago was not often. But at this moment in time, the culmination of all that Eric had learned while trying to survive in the digital world was put into effect, because the Tankmon behind him were relentless. They blasted through the trees and drove at top speed to catch the boy which, fortunately for him, wasn't very fast due to their weight as tanks. Fortunately survival in the forests and deserts of the digital world had done Eric well. He was running on adrenaline more than anything, but had he done this a month ago the boy would have been constantly stumbling over his own feet in this dense forest. Every tree seemed to be within a few feet of each other. Eric silently thanked the heavens that he hadn't had to run through this forest on his first day on File Island. Fortunately now he could easily dodge the roots and knots in the earth that would have otherwise dropped him to his immanent death. That, combined with the fact that adrenaline had virtually replaced his blood, had increased his speed dramatically. So dramatically in fact that every once in a while Eric got the feeling that he had actually widened the distance between him and his opponents. However within a few seconds of that moment one of the Tankmon would obliterate a tree a few feet behind the boy and convince him otherwise.

Despite these contrasting abilities, Eric really had the advantage. He could quickly waver between tight trees and widen the gap between himself and his pursuers, while the trio of Tankmon had to smash and blast their way through the forest, which slowed them down. The Tankmon had to create their own path through the forest, while Eric was able to follow the narrow trail that was already there. Unfortunately that would soon change. Eric was getting tired. Unlike the Tankmon, who only stopped when they ran out of fuel (which Eric wasn't even sure if machine digimon had), Eric could only run for so long before his muscles would give out and he would collapse from exhaustion. Because of this Eric had to try a more skillful tactic than just running to try and get away. He had to use the maze-like jungle to lose his pursuers. Of course, this was easier said than done, as the three machine digimon had on board computers that helped them easily track the fleeing boy and reset their course accordingly. It was really a miracle that he was still alive after ten minutes of running from the relentless machines, although to Eric everything about the digital world was a miracle, so why should surviving a malicious attack from a gang of organic tanks be so special?

Fortunately Eric eventually started to lose the three. After 20 minutes of running (during which he constantly thanked God for creating epinephrine) he could tell that the distance between himself and the Tankmon was growing exponentially. He glanced back every so often to find that the Tankmon had fallen over 100 yards behind him. Eric breathed a sigh of relief and slowed down just a speck. Then one of the Tankmon fired a blast in his direction, encouraging him to return to his break neck pace. Eric continued on for another five minutes, then stopped. He could no longer move his legs, but it was just as well, because he could also no longer hear the rumbles of the Tankmon treads smashing through the jungle. The three must have given up looking for him. Eric then dropped to the ground and breathed heavily for the next two minutes, trying to catch his breath. He could feel his heart beating relentlessly against his chest, as if it were trying to escape the torment Eric had just put it through. After a few more minutes, Eric's lungs and heart finally stopped gasping. Now that his insides were quiet, he could finally appreciate the serenity of the forest. It was extremely quiet, which meant that there was no possible way that the Tankmon were near. Any movement they made would have sounded like an explosion in this deathly quiet forest.

As he relaxed, Eric started to realize that every inch of his clothing was covered in sweat. He risked smelling near his armpit (no way he would check the actual thing) and almost puked at his own smell. He then laughed. It had been so long since he had any sort of shower. None of the destined had bothered to take one when they returned to Shichiri Village due to the pressing matters at hand, and there wasn't any running water at the refugee fortress. He actually appreciated feeling this need to take a shower. It had been so long since his biggest worry was whether or not he smelled like he could fit into society. Then his mind snapped back to the bigger picture. Kari had willingly let herself be captured to find Tai and T.K., who had been captured by Yolei when they were separated. There was the increasing possibility that all six of them were dead, but Eric had to push that gruesome thought out of his head. He had to hope that Kari's plan had worked, and that HerculesKabuterimon's distraction of Puppetmon was also distracting Yolei. But besides that there was an even bigger matter at hand. They had as a group managed to defeat MetalSeadramon, but there were four more evil digidestined to deal with. HerculesKabuterimon was a powerful behemoth, but there was no way he could handle the experienced (albeit childish) Puppetmon. There only hope for stopping the psychopathic mannequin would be for Kari to break Tai out of Yolei's castle and have WarGreymon take care of him. But that was just Puppetmon. Could they rely on WarGreymon to take care of every single other mega they were forced to contend with?

As Eric contemplated this, he wiped the sweat off his forehead. Only then did he realize how hot he was. His mind had been wrapped around so many things that he hadn't realized how hot it was. It was odd, as he was in a deciduous, temperate forest. But he was feeling humidity. He scratched his head in confusion and began to look around. Immediately he came to a horrific realization. The reason he had been able to make such a big gap between him and the Tankmon was that at some point in that last ten minutes the forest had transformed from a northern wilderness to a tropical jungle. This wouldn't be a big deal, if it weren't for the fact that this jungle was exactly like the one on File Island: spacious with spread out trees. So spacious, in fact, that the Tankmon could roll through here virtually invisible, since their armor was colored to look just like the forest and there was no thick underbrush or dense trees to block their path.

"BOOM!" A tree to Eric's right shattered to pieces just as the boy decided to jump to his feet and start running again. He was miraculously fortunate enough to jump away just in time and begin his mad dash away once again. Once he had picked up speed, he turned his head for a split second to see the Tankmon a few hundred feet behind him weaving easily through the trees. Now that they were moving fast, they were making some noise, but not nearly as much as when they were fighting their way through the dense forest. Eric had to once again resort to blasting full force through the jungle with every ounce of adrenaline he had while attempting desperately to dodge every missile launch from the Tankmon behind him. However now that they were in a more open area, the Tankmon were quickly catching up to him. Eric was rapidly losing control of the situation, which culminated in him losing concentration and tripping over an uprooted tree. He stumbled onto the ground and fell on his side, knocking his arm against his hip, which threw his digivice a few feet forward. Eric scrambled forward and leaped on his digivice, not daring to forget to grab it before he began to run again.

When he grabbed it, he was for a split second (before he started to run again) surprised at how hot it was. Sure, the forest was hot, but a small piece of metal like his digivice wouldn't get so hot unless it was exposed to sunlight for a long time (which was impossible due to the thick canopy above) or intense, constant use. Could HerculesKabuterimon be overexerting himself, and was that being reflected in their digivice? Then a thought occurred to him. A wonderful thought. It was so wonderful, that he began to swear himself for not thinking of it before. He wasn't sure if he was right though. But there was only one way to find out. Fortunately if his theory worked then it would kill two birds with one stone. And there was little risk involved, unless of course there was too much energy built up in his digivice and it exploded when he did this. But he shrugged it off. He was dead anyway, so he might as well give it his best shot. So he reached back to his hip and pressed the button on his digivice.

***

"Gyah!" HerculesKabuterimon shrieked in intense pain as Puppetmon once again drove his fist into the startled digimon's gut. The beetle had been constantly bombarded by the vengeful digimon to the point where he had been knocked hundreds and hundreds of miles away from where the Tankmon had cornered Eric. He had to get back to the boy before they took him back to Yolei, but Puppetmon had been knocking him around for half an hour now and he still couldn't get into a defensive position. Puppetmon kept pummeling him before he could do that. Puppetmon's rage was so intense that he didn't even notice the ear drum shattering screams from the massive beetle.

"You think it's funny to mock me!?" Puppetmon continued the angry diatribe he had been on the entire time he was beating HerculesKabuterimon. "You think it's funny that I lost my intelligence when I digivolved!? I used to be smart! I was a Cherrymon! I was probably one of the smartest ultimates in the digital world! And now I'm like this, and everything I do is childish and psychopathic!" He planted an uppercut into HerculesKabuterimon's jaw. "But at least I'm strong. I'm strong enough to pummel you, know matter how stupid you think I am!" He wrapped his palms together and smashed his combined fists into HerculesKabuterimon's skull, sending the digimon careening into the forest painfully. "And you broke my hammer! I spent a hundred years smacking digimon around like that, and then you come along and within a few hours you break it! I may be the child here but at least I'm not such a klutz that I'd break a powerful weapon like that! You know you could have used that to beat me! It's part of my data! It's gained experience just like I have!"

HerculesKabuterimon couldn't reply. Puppetmon's constant pummeling had bruised his chest so extensively that he couldn't fathom using his lungs for anything other than light breathing. If it weren't for his amazingly tough exo-skeleton, every organ in his body would have been ripped apart by now. HerculesKabuterimon had the fleeting thought that it might be more tolerable if Puppetmon would put him out of his misery, but he couldn't think like that. He had to save Eric. He had to save Kari and Gatomon. He had to save Tai, Agumon, T.K, and Patamon. He had to find some way to get the energy to fight this experienced menace, for even with his fresh evolution bonus energy the difference in power was still immense.

"Every single time we come close to stopping you fools once and for all, some how you find a way to turn it around on us." Puppetmon growled still angry but more calm now. "I am tired of my rule of this world being constantly taken away by some brats who broke the rules by getting better digivices than we did!"

"What are you talking about...?" HerculesKabuterimon whispered quickly.

"What you don't know? It's so obvious that your partner's digivices make it easier for you guys to digivolve than for us. It's the only reason you defeated us on File Island, and it's the only reason you defeated Devimon so many times."

"And how do you consider that breaking the rules...?"

"Because I had to work to get my strength, and you just stole it from your partner!"

"I didn't steal it, Eric gave me that power." Just then a streak of white-purple light rocketed across the sky and slammed into HerculesKabuterimon's chest. Puppetmon was stunned at this, and at first HerculesKabuterimon thought he was being attacked, at least until he felt his strength returning. Within a second he felt as if he had just digivolved for the first time and was now surging with power.

"What the heck was that!" Puppetmon screamed in awe.

"I told you," HerculesKabuterimon replied in a low voice, "Eric gave me that power!" His scream startled Puppetmon and caused him to slam his palms over his ears. This gave HerculesKabuterimon the surprise element he needed to drive his fist into Puppetmon's relatively tiny body. Puppetmon didn't expect this and was temporarily paralyzed by the attack. "I hope that hurt." He smiled and grabbed the limp digimon as it tried desperately to shake off its stunned status, then threw the mannequin across the sky towards the non-visible horizon. The monster didn't even scream, for he was too shocked. HerculesKabuterimon then turned his head towards the direction that the light had come from. He jumped up into the air, revitalized from the energy beam, and flew towards where he knew his partner would be.


	44. Follow The White Rabbit

**Chapter Forty Four: Follow the White Rabbit**

When Eric Carter had felt the intense heat of his digivice, a hopeful thought had occurred to him. The digivice was a tool that multiplied the energy from the digidestined's bodies and gave it to their partners to digivolve with. Heat was a form of energy. For the past five weeks, Eric had been beaten down by the sun and humidity of the digital world to the point where he was sweating and giving off heat more than the rest of his life combined. It was possible that his digivice was storing all of this heat energy too. If it was, then if Eric unleashed it the energy would be maximized by the unknown properties of the digivice and give HerculesKabuterimon enough strength to defeat Puppetmon. A side effect of that event would be that the energy beam that escaped Eric's digivice to go to HerculesKabuterimon's body would show the direction in which his partner was, and Eric could run that way so that the Tankmon would have to deal with his mega-powered and sized partner. It worked too, seemingly. The energy beam from his digivice rose into the air and spiraled across the forest, hundreds of miles away from where Eric was. A distance that he could not cover in time to get to his partner. The first part of his plan had hopefully worked, but the second part had been immediately shattered to pieces.

Now he was surrounded by the three Tankmon who had been pursuing him for the past half hour. Initially the trio were (on Yolei's orders) trying to kill him. They had relentlessly shelled the boy the entire chase, but the dense cover and Eric's skillful weaving through the tree trunks had protected him from otherwise certain death. When they broke out into the (strangely) open jungle terrain, the only reason Eric had even survived that chase was because he was so far ahead of the Tankmon at the time due to his gains in the dense deciduous forest. But that did not last long. Once out in the open, the Tankmon quickly caught up with the boy, and were probably seconds away from killing him before Eric finally cut his losses and gave up. He screamed to them that he was surrendering and slowed down to a stop. At first the three Tankmon were weary of his sudden give in, but quickly took the opportunity to subdue their prey diplomatically as to not in any possible way tick off their master, who unbeknown to them had arrived in the jungle and was only a minute or so away.

"I thought I told you to kill him." The purple haired demon growled as her Tankmon escort pulled up surprisingly behind the three soldiers who had been conversing with themselves while guarding Eric. They jumped at the sound of her voice, but then mounted to attention so they wouldn't set her off.

"Forgive us madam, but we wanted to make sure of your intentions with the boy, just in case there were some other uses for him." The lead Tankmon replied as Yolei stepped off of her ride and let him go to the side of his fellow champions.

"That's very intuitive of you, but no. There is no more use for him, he is dead weight. Kill him."

"Before you do that, you mind if I ask you a question?" Eric asked (again) defiantly.

"Yeah sure, why not." Yolei groaned.

"What did you do with Tai, T.K., Agumon and Patamon?"

"They were in our prison, but Puppetmon (without telling me) sent them on a convoy over to Kazu's territory to do some... involuntary work in one of his factories."

"You mean you enslaved them?" Eric glared.

"They're prisoners of war, not slaves you jackass."

"Right, of course. So why am I useless? Why kill me and not them? I'm stronger than them, kind of."

"But you can't be broken."

"I'm sorry?"

"Tai ant T.K. are young and immature compared to you, Matt, and Rika. If we "exhaust" them enough then they'll eventually give in and lose hope. But not you. You're dead set in your convictions and I doubt we'd ever get you to give up on escaping imprisonment."

"Aw, that's sweet, but you're wrong." Eric actually smiled.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Yolei glared.

"I had a mental break down in the forest a few hours ago. I thought that all of this-" Eric shrugged to the forest around him "-was an illusion and I was really in a mental institution or a coma."

"That's nice. My men are still going to kill you."

"Yeah well, like you said: I'm not a quitter."

"You really think you can take on four Tankmon? Besides, I thought you just said I was right?"

"I didn't say you were right anymore." Eric shrugged, then dodge rolled to the right, away from the five oppressors and into a thicker area of trees.

"Hey!" Yolei screamed aimlessly. Fortunately the Tankmon reacted, and three of them rolled towards the boy through the still passable jungle trees.

"CRASH!!!" Before the Tankmon got more than a few feet a leviathan foot smashed through the canopy above and crushed the three Tankmon. They scattered into data immediately. Yolei and the remaining Tankmon looked up worriedly to see HerculesKabuterimon standing only a few feet away from them.

"How could you possibly have known he was coming?" Yolei struggled to ask as she kept her gaze with the angry insect above her.

"I didn't. I was just going to run." Eric replied with a half shocked, half pleased look on his face. "Nice timing big guy."

"Thanks. I figured that energy boost was more ambiguous than it first seemed." HerculesKabuterimon smiled, or at least his twisted triple jaw version of a smile. "Do you need a ride?"

"Yes I do. How nice of you to ask." HerculesKabuterimon bent down and allowed Eric to climb up his back more easily than the first time. He scrambled onto the beetle's shoulder just as the monster bent back to an upright position.

"Now if you'll excuse us Yolei," HerculesKabuterimon creepily smiled again, "We have to go finish dealing with your childish, immature, psychopathic, WEAK partner." He then rapidly flapped his gigantic wings and took off into the sky towards the direction he came from.

"Should we go after them my liege?" The remaining Tankmon asked after a few seconds of silence. Yolei turned to look at him with a shocked and angry face. "Of course, what a stupid question.' He released a few air valves to lower himself so the girl could climb onto his side, then returned to his upper position and began to roll after the much faster and bigger mega.

"You didn't defeat Puppetmon?" Eric inquired while his partner sliced across the sky.

"No, I temporarily disposed of him so that I could come and rescue you."

"Oh. Thanks. But we should probably hold off on finishing off Puppetmon until we get Kari out of that castle."

"Right. Besides, it'll probably be easier if we have Angewomon, MagnaAngemon, and WarGreymon there with us to stop him."

"Yeah, about that-"

"What?"

"Right before you jumped in and stopped her from killing me, Yolei told me that Puppetmon had sent Tai, T.K., and their partners to do some work in Kazu's territory."

"So they're not here?"

"No, they aren't."

"Damn."

"Still, we need to make sure Kari and Gatomon are safe."

"Right, I'll turn around." He never got the chance.

"Yah!" Puppetmon leaped out of the forest a second later and drove his fist into HerculesKabuterimon's gut. The beetle was prepared however. He twisted to the side so that Puppetmon only dove into empty air.

"Okay, maybe we should deal with him first." Eric conceited.

"You think?" HerculesKabuterimon growled sarcastically as he prepared a defensive pose to reduce the damage from Puppetmon's upcoming attack, which came quickly. The mannequin used his momentum to turn around mid-air and launch himself again towards HerculesKabuterimon, all within a second. HerculesKabuterimon had barely defended himself before Puppetmon planted his feet directly into the monster's crossed arms. The force of this attack was more than HerculesKabuterimon realized and he was thrown back a few hundred feet. Then Puppetmon fell back into the deciduous forest below.

"What is he doing?" HerculesKabuterimon groaned while he flapped higher into the air.

"It looks like he's using the forest for cover. He'll probably only attack when we're close enough for him to do a little damage and then get back into the canopy for cover."

"Bastard's actually doing something smart for a change. So what do we do? The only way I can fight him is if I know where he is, and I can't land in the forest to fight him because he'll just use the forest for camouflage." HerculesKabuterimon glanced around the sea of green before him, "And there' is no way I can get rid of his cover."

"Well then," Eric sighed, "If we can't get rid of the trees, then I guess you'll have to fight him somewhere where there aren't any trees for him to hide in."

"It's a little confusing, but I got it." HerculesKabuterimon murmured. "Hold on tight." HerculesKabuterimon flew still for a second while scanning the forest, then took a deep breath and dropped down to the canopy. Just as Eric expected, Puppetmon jumped out to attack as soon as HerculesKabuterimon was in striking distance. But HerculesKabuterimon wasn't going to take any more abuse. As soon as Puppetmon showed himself HerculesKabuterimon dropped down to almost ground level and clasped all four of his open palms around the mannequin. Then, before he could fight back, HerculesKabuterimon flew back up high into the air and started flying at an incredible speed toward a new direction. The dramatic speed put so much pressure on HerculesKabuterimon's front (on which his four balled palms were pressed against) that Puppetmon had no leverage to break free.

"How long do you think this will take?" Eric screamed over the wind while struggling to stay on his partner's back.

"It took me a few hours to get less than halfway across the ocean territory while I was Kabuterimon, and the forest isn't as big and I'm much faster now. This should only take half an hour at best. But he's strong, I don't know for how long I can keep him in this hold."

"Then hurry."

"I know."

"Lt mm th fk ut f hr!" They could here Puppetmon's muffled screams from within HerculesKabuterimon's palms. HerculesKabuterimon slightly increased his speed, and half an hour later the two partner's could see a streak of blue in the horizon.

"There! Kazu's territory!" Eric yelled in relief. A few seconds later HerculesKabuterimon broke out of the ocean of green and was met with a deep blue river stretching across three horizons.

"You know for a machine territory there aren't really a lot of mechanical things here." HerculesKabuterimon observed sarcastically.

"Those gray lines we saw when we were down in the desert must have been bridges. Land there and then deal with Puppetmon."

"Right." It didn't take long for HerculesKabuterimon to fly parallel to the forest and find an enormous metal walkway starting at the edge of the forest and shooting across the water for miles. HerculesKabuterimon landed a mile away from the greenery onto the wide metal bridge. Fortunately for HerculesKabuterimon the new battleground was a wide flat panel with no discrepancies on the surface except for the four foot handlebars on each side. The only other variation on the surface was where the walkway jutted out an inch or so where the pillars kept the bridge supported over the water. HerculesKabuterimon landed quickly, dropped off Eric, then flew a couple hundred feet away. It was just in time, because at that moment Puppetmon burst from HerculesKabuterimon's palms and skitted onto the ground with a thud.

"What the hell was that you bastard!?" Puppetmon gasped. "Did you really think keeping me wrapped up in your hands would-" Puppetmon's eyes widened when he saw his new surroundings. He thought for a second, then realized why HerculesKabuterimon had done what he had done. "Oh shit."

"Hyper Blaster!" HerculesKabuterimon did not wait for Puppetmon to get adjusted and immediately formed a sphere of electricity in each of his palms, then slammed them together violently before flinging it at Puppetmon.

"Flying Cross Cutter!" Puppetmon's agility saved his life. He expertly snapped the marionette handle off of his back and spun it in his palms, blocking the gigantic sphere from coming into contact with his body. When HerculesKabuterimon saw that Puppetmon was deflecting the attack, he quickly jumped forward and shoved his palms into the orb in order to give it more force. Then came the standoff. Both HerculesKabuterimon and Puppetmon manipulated the discharge in a reverse tug-of-war that lasted for several minutes. Finally, HerculesKabuterimon realized that Puppetmon would not give up before the beetle lost too much energy, so conceited temporary defeat and pushed the ball to the side where it flew past Puppetmon's body and faded away before it hit the water.

"Nice try-" Puppetmon began to smile.

"Yah!" HerculesKabuterimon reacted immediately and landed a punch on Puppetmon's entire front, knocking the monster clear across the metal surface of the bridge a few hundred feet.

"Ow..." Was all that Puppetmon could muster to say before degenerating into Mushroomon.

"That was easier than I thought it would be." HerculesKabuterimon chuckled. He then walked calmly over to the defeated rookie and grabbed him with one of his massive arms, then turned around and started back towards Eric, who was standing in the middle of the walkway a few hundred feet away (it only took HerculesKabuterimon a few seconds to cover that distance).

"Awesome." Eric huffed as HerculesKabuterimon dropped the limp (but obviously alive) Mushroomon at his feet.

"Two down, three to go." HerculesKabuterimon smiled.

"Take a break big guy, you deserve it." HerculesKabuterimon complied, and a few seconds and a gigantic, nuclear explosion sized light show later Tentomon stood next to the Mushroomon in between him and his partner.

"What, no Motimon? What makes you more special than Agumon and Gabumon?"

"I'm still chock-full of energy, thanks to that little stunt you pulled back in the forest. What in Yggdrasil's name did you do anyway?"

"My digivice has been storing my heat energy the entire time I've been here. Once I realized that I released it and it all fed into you after being magnified by however the digivice works."

"How did you know that would work?"

"I didn't, I just took a guess."

"Oh, that's wonderful."

"It worked, didn't it?"

"Yeah but if it didn't we would all be dead. We need something more reliable than blind luck for the next time something like this happens."

"You really think it was blind luck?"

"Yeah. What else would it be?"

"Well we aren't called the digidestined for nothing."

"What does that mean?" Tentomon never got his answer. Before Eric could reply, Tentomon heard the faint sound of a whistle far away. "Move!" Tentomon exploded in a burst of light and a second later Kabuterimon had shoved Eric onto the ground.

"What are you-?" Eric began to ask, but a second later his question was answered by the sight of a missile slicing through the air toward them. Kabuterimon stood ready, and when it arrived at their location he punched the rocket and knocked it harmlessly into the water. Eric didn't have to ask where it came from or why Kabuterimon handled it so easily, for in the distance he could make out the form of a Tankmon rumbling towards them at top speed. A long haired girl in a brown robe was standing on it's side. A minute later the Tankmon pulled up a few yards away from the Kabuterimon and Yolei jumped off of the digimon.

"You're a little late for the party." Eric smiled and then tapped Mushroomon's side with the tip of his boot. "Kabuterimon already took care of your little friend here."

"It's never over." Yolei glared at the two. "Kill them Tankmon."

"Hyper Cannon!" Tankmon complied. He fired another missile at the beetle and his partner. Kabuterimon quickly took evasive measures and dodged the bullet before it could hit him at virtual point-blank range. The monster then ducked/charged at Tankmon and tackled him with crushing force. Tankmon spiraled out of control from the momentum passed from Kabuterimon to him and eventually rolled into the guard rail, smashed through it, and fell into the water.

"Now is it over?" Eric asked as he rolled his eyes.

"Branch Drill!" An angry Woodmon leaped up from behind Eric and punched Kabuterimon in the back, sending him skidding across the metal surface of the bridge.

"Not quite." Yolei smiled.

"Electro-Shocker!" Kabuterimon flipped to his feet and fired an electrical sphere at Woodmon. The tree had no leverage to stop himself as the blast hit him with full force and sent him soaring over the two humans and stumbling into the bridge hundreds of feet away. Kabuterimon then jumped into the air and flew after him. Eric and Yolei watched the spectacle for a few minutes as Kabuterimon and Woodmon began to fight, then turned back to each other.

"Even though he made it back to champion Woodmon doesn't have the strength to handle Kabuterimon. He's going to lose in the next few minutes." Eric spoke calmly.

"I know." Yolei replied to Eric's surprise. He cocked his head at her statement, but Yolei continued. "You're right Eric. Woodmon just doesn't have the strength to deal with Kabuterimon, and my forces are too far away to get here in time. You are right, we lost. There's no way that me and Woodmon can stop you."

"I'm glad we see eye to eye."

"But that doesn't mean you've won."

"What?" Yolei responded by reaching into her pocket. Eric made a move for her, but she quickly removed her arm to reveal that she was holding a small black control with two buttons, one round red one and another that looked like a light switch.

"You see, when Zoe collapsed her territory, she made it fall from the inside out so that she would have time to escape through our underground tunnels to a safer territory. But me," She smiled and glanced back at the forest, "I'm already out of the forest." She flipped the white switch on the controller. "So that means I can just collapse it all at the same time."

"No!" Eric lunged at the girl as her thumb moved towards the red button. Fortunately for him, his adrenaline kicked in yet again and gave him a speed boost. He tackled the girl in her stomach and knocked the remote out of her hand. It dropped to the ground and lid across the metal walkway. Yolei wasn't defenseless though. As soon as she hit the ground she kicked her legs up and planted them into Eric's chest, knocking him off of her so that she could jump to her feet and run for the remote. Fortunately Eric had control of his legs and struck them forward, tripping Yolei before she could get into a full blown run. She fell over Eric's leg and fell face first into the ground.

"Give it up Woodmon, you're not going to win!" Kabuterimon smashed his fist into the stump's body and knocked into a crumpled position.

"I have to try." Woodmon gasped as he struggled to his feet. "What kind of emperor would I be if I didn't?"

"I guess I can respect that." Kabuterimon creepily smiled, then kicked Woodmon in the chest and knocked him into the water.

"AAHH!!" Yolei cried out in pain as Eric stomped his foot into her back to make sure she wouldn't cause him any trouble while he got up. After she was immobilized, Eric jumped over to the remote and picked it up, then turning over to Yolei who was struggling to her feet. He watched the girl as he walked over to the side of the walkway, then spoke.

"Face it Yolei, it's over. You're done." He scowled at her, then tossed the remote into the water. Then Woodmon jumped out of the water and grabbed the remote seconds before it hit the gadget killer.

"So are your friends." He growled, then pressed the red button. A second later Eric heard a tremendous series of cracks and felt the ground tremble under his feet. As Kabuterimon tackled the champion and pinned him to the ground, Eric could only turn to the forest territory in the distance and watch as a few large pieces of continent rose into the air and fall down into the non visible abyss below Spiral Mountain.

"No..." Eric's voice quivered. He then did the only thing he could think to do: he ran for the forest territory. "Kari! Kari!" He screamed in futility. He ran extremely fast and arrived at the edge of the ocean-city territory within a few minutes, but it was all in vain. He stumbled to his knees at the edge of the bridge (upon which there was a flat, one foot metal wall that lined in-between the two territories to keep the water in) just in time to watch the last piece of land snap off of the wall next to him and fall down into the dark abyss below. He then kneel at the edge of the ocean-city territory, staring into the black/sky blue merger with dead eyes. He didn't even have the will to cry. After a few seconds, something snapped in his head, and he dropped to his palms and cried out "Kari!" in the loudest voice he had ever spoken. But, like all his other actions, it was futile. He heard his voice echo off of some unseeable wall and slowly disappear. Then he cried.

"Eric." Kabuterimon suddenly came up behind him. Eric wiped the tears off of his face and turned around to see the giant standing behind him with Yolei and Woodmon subdued to his side.

"Kari and Gatomon were in that castle. There's no way they made it out. They would have been searching for Tai and Takeru when the building collapsed and they fell..."

"It's possible they are still alive."

"But not probable. We should have gone back for them first. We should have-"

"There was no way we could have known."

"It doesn't matter. We should have played it safe and got Kari out of there before we dealt with them." Eric nodded back to Yolei and Mushroomon, who were standing off to the side with vicious smiles on their faces.

"Eric, you can't-" He stopped speaking and twitched his head in the direction of the darkness below them. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what-?"

"Shh!" Kabuterimon stood with his ears facing the abyss. Eric stared at him with a perplexed look on his face for a second, wondering what was wrong with him. Then he heard it. It was the slightest, faintest, almost insignificant sound he had ever heard. Except that it was the greatest sound he ever could have detected. Coming from the abyss below was the quietest sounding of a yell. Not a yell, a call. A young girl's call. Kari's call. Kari was calling to them from inside the abyss.

"How is that possible?" Eric whispered.

"Quiet, she's saying something." Kabuterimon hissed. Eric stared at him with a perplexed look again, but then realized that the giant insect probably had impeccable hearing. After a few seconds, Kabuterimon smiled and said "She says they're alive. Angewomon caught Kari while they were falling and fell into a cave that was exposed to the void!"

"Oh thank God." Eric sighed a huge wave of relief while Kabuterimon let out a hearty laugh. Eric took a quick moment to glance at Yolei and Mushroomon, who had shocked scowls on their faces. Eric thought for a moment, then turned to his partner. "Ask her what the cave looks like."

"What?"

"Just ask her." Kabuterimon nodded, then screamed the question into the abyss. A few seconds later they heard a whisper level yell.

"She says it's dark and cold, and there are some patches of ice scattered through it."

"The ice territory." Eric smiled.

"Uh huh." Kabuterimon nodded.

"Well then, it looks like we've got a new heading." He looked to Kabuterimon. "We'll hike to the ice territory, find Kari and give yourself some time to regain your energy, then we'll move on Kazu with full force."

"And just how do you expect to find Kari or Kazu?" Yolei scoffed.

"Kabuterimon, tell Kari and Angewomon to find a way to the surface and get to the barrier between that and the mountain territory, somewhere tall and noticeable. We'll find them." Kabuterimon relayed the message.

"And what about Kazu?"

"That's where you come in my friend." Eric smiled smugly at her.

"What does that mean?"

"She says she's on her way." Kabuterimon replied in a relieved voice.

"Good, then let's get going. By the way, do you have any idea where we might find some rope?"

"And why would we need that?" Kabuterimon asked confused. Eric waited to reply. Instead, he walked up to Yolei, saw her digivice clipped to a belt that tied around her robe, and took it. He then ripped the girl's crest off of her neck.

"Because hostages are usually detained in some way." Eric retorted.

***

"Did you see them?" Tai whispered into Patamon's large ear. Them, T.K., and Agumon were walking with handcuffs on their wrists while a convoy of Mekanorimon, Tankmon, and one giant Gigadramon led them across one of the many long walkways stretching across the small ocean. Tai was referring to his and T.K.'s digivices, which had been commandeered when they were captured. One of the Tankmon was dragging a wagon full of supplies behind him, and Puppetmon had purposely slowed down so that he could get a better look at its contents.

"No. One of the Mekanorimon shoved me back here before I could see too far." Patamon groaned and whispered.

"Hey! What have I told you about talking?" The Gigadramon slowly flying directly in front of them grumbled. The ultimate was a terrifying sight even for Patamon and Agumon, who could easily defeat him in their evolved forms. The monster was basically a massive sky dragon, with only two limbs (his arms) a torso and a head, the rest of his body was a long snake-like appendage. His arms, wings, and belly were completely metal, and his skull was covered in a MetalGreymon-like face plate.

"Sorry." Tai grumbled.

"It doesn't matter anyway," Said one of the Tankmon to their right, "We're here." He nudged to Gigadramon, who complied in moving his tail and letting the two digidestined and their partners see what lie ahead of them. They weren't surprised, but still in awe. The bridge ended a mile away from them, where it connected with a city sized round platform floating (or standing on pillars, for they couldn't see which) in the water. It was city sized for precisely that reason- there was a city filled with skyscrapers and factories resting on it.

"Welcome to your new home." Said Gigadramon.

***

"It is time." A shadow in the darkness hissed to a small, bat creature in front of him.

"It has been a long time." DemiDevimon replied humbly. "I was beginning to think this day would never come."

"Our informant on the outside has never failed us before. You will be free of this prison momentarily, and soon enough, so will we."

"Will I ever get to meet this informant?" The rookie form of Devimon asked.

"Perhaps, but he is a very cautious being. I doubt that you would know if you saw him."

"So he's activated the dark beacon again, correct."

"Only enough, and in a concentrated dose, to tear a temporary hole in-between the barrier between here and the rest of the digital world. The rest is up to you, as long as your servants have done what you planned they would do."

"I am sure that most of them did their job, however Koichi will have a lot to answer for when I return."

"I am not interested in your domestic squabbles, I only want to make sure you cause enough disruption so that we can surface."

"Of course madam, in fact I have already determined a place where you can begin your conquest. It is already rife with turmoil and will easily fall into your and your brother's hands."

"And what might this place be?"

"It is the continent of Drive, madam. Ever since its residents recovered from the dark beacon they've been consumed by civil war. I am sure that you can promise one side greatness and take over the continent with ease."

"Perfect. Now, if you'll please look up." The tall woman in the shadows nodded up, and DemiDevimon followed her gaze. When his eyes reached the uppermost part of the darkness, he saw a faint light emanating down towards them. This light began to grow even brighter, and eventually it was so bright that it disintegrated the shadows around them and allowed DemiDevimon to fully see the form of one of his masters.

"It's good to finally meet you madam."

"Enough with the pleasantries." Rosemon glared at the bat. "Make sure that you release Piedmon and get us out of here, or I'm sure our informant can find a way to put an end to your pathetic excuse for a life."

"I won't fail you my liege." DemiDevimon bowed, and then began flapping up to the surface.

"Free Piedmon, my servant, and make our destiny come true. Make our revenge a reality. Follow the light, and make our enemy's worst nightmare come to life." Her words slowly faded away as DemiDevimon flapped heavily into the bright light. A few seconds later he emerged from the dark hole, just as it slammed shut and blocked passage into the dark plane. DemiDevimon landed and took a second to look around. He was on top of a mountain along a range. To his left he could see a frigid strip of land in the distance, and to his right a vast ocean.

"Finally," DemiDevimon gasped, "Finally it's time. I will free my masters and exact my revenge on our enemies." He let out a raspy laugh. "But there is still so much more to do. This is just the beginning Seraphim," He smiled, "This is just the beginning."


	45. What We Were

I'm sorry (I think I say that too much), a combination of writer's block, computer malfunctions, and an unhealthy addiction to Assassin's Creed contributed to the long wait period for this chapter. All though, I guess it would be easier to write if it hadn't been two months since somebody told me whether my story sucked or not.

**Chapter Forty Five: What We Were**

**File Island, 100 Years and Two Days Ago**

"Viximon!...Ow!" As Nyaromon was struggling to run after her much faster friend, she hopped onto a rock and stumbled into her face.

"Nyaromon, be careful. We can't afford anything slowing us down...!" Viximon hissed as she turned around and helped the smaller rookie get back upright.

"I'm sorry." Nyaromon groaned.

"It's okay, just watch your step. We need to get as far away from Kazu and Guardromon as possible."

"What about the others? We can't just leave them back there."

"There isn't anything we can do right now Nyaromon. We'll go back and try to find them later, but we won't be able to do that if we're captured."

"I know, but I'm so worried."

"Koromon will take care of them, don't worry. Now come on." Viximon added with emphasis. She then began prancing farther into the forest. Nyaromon hopped after her. A few seconds later a few trees around them shattered and their splinters fell to the ground, the larger pieces knocking the two in-trainings into the dirt. Viximon looked back and saw Guardromon a few dozen yards behind them with his cannon arm raised.

"He fired dark needles at us. Run!" Viximon yelled after she immediately leaped to her paws. She then dashed farther away into the forest.

"Viximon wait!" Nyaromon cried before jumping up and hopping after her. Unfortunately in the mini-fox's fear it had run too fast, and Nyaromon couldn't catch up. After a few minutes she was lost in the forest, but fortunately she had shaken Guardromon off of her trail and was safe- for now. She then slowed down and stopped to rest at a tree. Nyaromon stayed a few minutes to catch her breath, then thought about what she was going to do. They had lost Koromon, Gummymon, Motimon, and Tokomon during the attack, and now Nyaromon had been separated from Viximon as well. Nyaromon was nervous, but she remained in control. Elecmon had prepared her for this. He had taught she and her friends how to survive in this jungle, and Nyaromon was prepared to get away from anything or anyone that might hurt her. Until she heard a deafening pop and a whoosh of water that popped out of nowhere a hundred feet away from her. Nyaromon gasped and dove into the hiding tree she was leaning on.

After a few hours, Nyaromon gathered the courage to jump out of the tree and take a look around. After determining it was safe she started to slowly hop through the under brush in no direction in particular. Then she heard a rustle. Someone else was in the forest.

"Viximon...?" She asked nervously. Then a high pitched voice somewhere in the forest gasped. Nyaromon's face lit up when she realized that it must be Viximon, and jumped towards the sound. It only took her a few seconds to leap out of the thick brush she was in and into a clearing, where a short human girl in yellow clothes was standing in a startled position with a surprised look on her face. "Huh!!!"

"Ah!" The girl gasped as well. Both of them stared at each other for a few seconds, too stunned and scared to do anything else. Nyaromon didn't know what to do. Who was she? Did she work with the evil digidestined? She had never seen a human this young before, but that didn't mean she wasn't one of them. Nyaromon had absolutely no idea of what to do. Then the human spoke. "What... are you?"

"Uh..." Nyaromon was more or less speechless.

"THWACK!" A thin needle whizzed through the air and struck the ground a few inches from Nyaromon's body.

"Guardromon, stop missing. You keep blowing our cover." A voice growled from outside of the clearing. Both of the girls twisted around to see Kazu and Guardromon marching into the clearing.

"AAAAHHHH!!!!" Kari squealed at the sight of the metallic champion.

"Who are you?" Kazu asked the new human with no emotion. This confirmed to Nyaromon that this new girl and the evil digidestined were not associated.

"This must be one of the humans that master Devimon was talking about Kazu." Guardromon reasoned.

"Of course." Kazu nodded. "Take them both."

"No!" Nyaromon jumped over to the new girl and leaped into her stomach, knocking her out of the clearing and into some bushes. "Run!" She ordered upon landing.

**The Digital World, Now**

"Rapid Fire!" The rabbit stopped for just a second and positioned himself on a tree to release a dangerous payload on the three digimon they were pursuing. He then jumped back onto the mountain trail and continued his pursuit. Just as he had imagined, the three digimon dodged his blast, but it disoriented them long enough for he and the rest of his team to close the gap between the two groups. Next to him, his mystic fox partner in her taoist robes was preparing a spell that would slow them down even further.

"This chase is getting tiring." The last team member grumbled as he rocketed behind them.

"Patience, BlackWarGrowlmon," BlackRapidmon chuckled, "They won't be running for much longer."

"We're getting closer to the ice territory." Doumon stated with no emotion. "We will corner them soon."

"I'm getting impatient. We've been fighting these guerrillas for months now. When are they going to realize that they can't win?"

"When we get rid of their leader." BlackRapidmon frowned. "Once we get rid of that hopeful bastard, those three won't have the will to continue their pointless crusade."

"They turned." Doumon stated. BlackRapidmon and BlackWarGrowlmon's eyes perked up when they saw the three digimon in the distance swerve to the right to avoid sliding down the mountain path and into the ice territory.

"Now!" BlackRapidmon ordered.

***

"Move!" Indramon twirled on his heel and threw his arm out just as a missile was about to come into contact with his ally. Instead of hitting the unaware Kumbhiramon, it drove into Indramon's bicep and shattered the limb. "Ayah!"

"Indramon, no!" Pajiramon pushed her legs out to stop and turned around to tend to her fallen ally.

"Indramon!" Kumbhiramon squeaked while running to the stub that was left of Indramon's arm. Out of the corner of his eye, however, he saw another missile flying through the sky. "Treasure Pestle!" He threw his body sideways so that the weapon on his side was facing forward and fired a series of energy pellets from it. They collided with the missile in the air and they both exploded in the sky. "They're getting closer!"

"Indramon we have to go!" Pajiramon wrapped her hands around Indramon's one good arm and tried to lift the much larger digimon off of the ground. But it was no use. He was too heavy.

"Indramon you have to cooperate. Get up!" Kumbhiramon urged.

"I can't..." Indramon groaned weakly. He was now grasping his stub with his other arm and trying desperately to not scream in pain.

"Indramon!" Pajiramon pushed the large horse urgently, but he could not move.

"Pajiramon what do we do?" Kumbhiramon asked nervously. The ram thought for a minute, and then sighed before answering.

"Kumbhiramon, you have to go find SaberLeomon and tell him what we discovered. I'll stay with Indramon and we'll hold them off."

"Pajiramon, that's nonsense. Don't stay here to get yourself killed." Indramon growled.

"I won't leave you here to die Indramon. Now go Kumbhiramon." Pajiramon snapped at the horse, then looked up at the last ultimate in the group.

"But Pajiramon-" Kumbhiramon began.

"Go!" She ordered. Kumbhiramon nodded and then with doubt turned around and continued running down the path as fast as he could.

"Damn them..." He mumbled to himself (while stoping himself from crying) as he rounded the steep slope that lead down to the ice shelf below and found himself on a narrow cliff path. However halfway along this stretch of the path the weak earth under Kumbhiramon gave way. "Agh!" He cried as the small ultimate slipped off of the mountain path and flew through the sky towards the frozen tundra below.

***

It was too cold for Kari and Gatomon. Neither of them were prepared for such harsh conditions. It was summer in Japan where Kari had been before she was pulled into the digital world (or rather, dived), and as such she was only dressed in shorts and a sleeveless shirt. Gatomon had grown up on a tropical island. Fortunately the ice and snow covered territory they were hiking through was not completely ice and snow. There were plenty of frozen topsoil trails that traveled parallel to the mountain territory to their right and the dark abysmal void that used to be the ocean and forest territories to their left.

"Gatomon, maybe we should walk over on one of the trails in the mountains for a while." Kari suggested while they were walking.

"That's not a good idea Kari." The champion feline replied shivering.

"And why is that?"

"Because the terrain on those mountains are a lot tougher than these, and if we do go up there we might miss a noticeable landmark."

"Or we might see an even better one from a higher vantage point."

"We can't afford getting exhausted and not being able to defend ourselves if we get jumped by Joe, Ken, or their servants."

"It's better than being frozen if we run into them."

"Kari please! It'll be bad enough if I have to fight them on an empty stomach. It'll be worse if I'm too tired as well. At least out here I won't be so tired and I'll be able to warm up quickly if I get into a battle."

"Fine. Can we at least stop somewhere for a while to warm up? I'm starting to lose the feeling in my toes."

"There is a part of the mountain range over in the distance that rises into a cliff. It looks like it'll block out the wind. We can stop there for awhile." Gatomon replied sorely. It only took a few minutes for them to take a diagonal route across the snow banks, ice sheets, and frozen soil of the ice territory to the border, where the barren ground began to rise in elevation on a steep slope that rose to mountain level. A few dozen feet away, the slope transformed into a vertical cliff, where the winds coming in from the mountains flowed over without touching the ground for a few hundred yards.

Once they were safely nestled at the bridge between the ground and the rock cliff face, the two girls settled down to rest. Kari massaged her feet to get the blood flowing in them again, while Gatomon wrapped her arms around herself to create a cycle of heat in her body.

"I don't like what we're doing." Kari whispered after a few minutes of them sitting in silence.

"Jeez we can take one of the mountain trails if it really means that much to you."

"Not that."

"What then?"

"I don't like that we're just looking for somewhere to hide while Eric comes looking for us."

"We don't have much of a choice Kari. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not much of a match for any of the evil digidestined right now."

"But you could be."

"I'm sorry?"

"Gatomon, how do you think MegaKabuterimon was able to beat Puppetmon?"

"I don't know, he probably…" Gatomon was at a loss for words.

"Exactly. There was no way for an ultimate to beat a mega, unless he wasn't an ultimate."

"He must have found a way to digivolve."

"Right. Tentomon found a way to digivolve to mega, and then defeated Puppetmon. That's what you have to do."

"Kari, are you insane? Wait no, we already covered that with your little stunt in Yolei's castle."

"Gatomon, if Agumon can do it, Gabumon can do it, Renamon can do it, and Tentomon can do it, then there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to find a way to digivolve to mega."

"I agree, but we can't take that chance."

"And why is that?"

"Kari, if you're wrong, if we face Joe or Ken or Kazu and I can't find a way to digivolve, then we won't survive."

"But you will."

"You can't know that Kari."

"I have faith in you Gatomon."

"Well… I don't."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gatomon didn't respond. She sat in uncomfortable silence for a few seconds, then snapped at her partner.

"It's not important! Let's just find the others so we'll have a better chance of surviving. I'm perfectly happy with trying to find a way to digivolve as long as we have a backup plan. But without any other digidestined with us, we'll be in too much danger to try to-"

"Ugh…" A moan from a nearby snow bank interrupted Gatomon before she could finish.

"What was that!?" Kari hissed.

"Shh! I'll find out." Gatomon hushed her partner, and then she started stalking towards the short mound of snow where the sound came from. Releasing her claws, she was prepared to strike until she saw that in the snow was a tired digimon groggily stirring awake. It looked like a large white mouse, about Gatomon's size, but its body was rotund and its legs looked too scrawny for the rest of its body. Except for its inverse ankles, its head, and its tail, the monster was also completely covered in golden metal armor, and a double sided, three pronged staff was strapped to its back, under a small pair of brown wings. Three small silver horns rested on the white mouse's forehead. "Huh." She hummed to herself.

"Ayah!" The small white rat then surprisingly jumped out of the snow bank and right in front of Gatomon where he shook his back so that the pronged weapon flipped around and faced the feline. "Get back traitor!" Gatomon, startled, complied and sunk back a few feet away from the rodent and put her paws into the air.

"Who are you?" She asked calmly.

"You know who I am! I know your masters told you about us! Huh… human!" His attention was diverted to Kari, who had slowly walked towards the commotion cautiously. When he saw her, he aimed his weapon at Kari and growled.

"Back off!" Gatomon lunged at the digimon, who quickly turned back to the feline and swung his staff like a club towards her. Gatomon leaped out of the way and into the air, then pounced onto the rodent's back. The digimon was prepared though and flipped onto his back before she pounced. This allowed the mouse to kick Gatomon in the chest before she landed her blow, and she was knocked a few feet away into the snow. "Kari he's too strong." She groaned while pulling herself out of the snow bank.

"Then I guess you'll just have to be stronger." Kari replied, then tapped her digivice.

**"Gatomon digivolve to…"** Gatomon's enemy didn't wait for the light show to end. He lunged off of the ground and sped through the air towards Gatomon. Unfortunately for him, Angewomon appeared a second later and landed a powerful fist into the digimon's face. The mouse bounced backwards into a sprawled position on the ground, and Angewomon was quick to take advantage of the opportunity. Her rat opponent tried to jump back to his feet and defend, but Angewomon already had a Celestial Arrow trained at his face. "Don't move!"

"Treasure Pest-" The rodent was about to fire an attack out of his staff, but froze when he saw the golden arrow pointed right towards his jugular. "Nevermind."

"Are you quite done yet?" Angewomon glared at her tiring opponent.

"You may defeat me," The mouse gasped, "But you will never break our spirit. My leader will resist your evil forces no matter what you do!"

"Evil?" Angewomon cocked her head. "Just who do you think we are?'

"You've got one of the evil digidestined with you; shouldn't this conversation be saved for a less intelligent opponent."

"Little mouse, do me a favor and take a good look at my partner." Angewomon sighed.

"And if I don't?"

"Then I'll beat you senseless. Now do it." The rodent rolled its eyes, but complied. It adjusted itself to his feet and glanced over to Kari, who was standing in confusion near the two ultimate digimon. He focused on her for a second, then turned back to Angewomon in revelation.

"That doesn't look like Zoe or Yolei." The rat said warily.

"Exactly." Angewomon replied. "That's because she is not. She is my partner, Kari Kamiya, and she is one of the hero digidestined who have been working to restore order to our world."

"That is impossible." The digimon growled. "The hero digidestined disappeared a hundred years ago. They've never been seen sense, except for Rika and Sakuyamon."

"We weren't gone for a hundred years." Kari explained. "One of the evil digidestined kidnapped me, and everyone else came after him. He led us all to an alternate dimension where time passes a lot faster. By the time we had defeated him and came back a hundred years had passed here, but it only seemed like half of a day to us."

"You can't be serious." The monster interrogated.

"We are." Angewomon glared. "And if you can't accept that, then too bad. We have a mission to complete, and we won't let you get in the way of it."

"Mission? What mission?" The mouse squeeked.

"We were separated from the rest of our team," Angewomon explained while finally being comfortable enough to lower her bow (but not enough to dismantle the energy arrow positioned on it), "We were looking for some sort of notable landmark so that our team mates could spot us and we could be reunited again."

"And then what?' The digimon asked defiantly.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, if you're really the hero digidestined, then you must be trying to save our world again, yes? Or are you up to something else."

"For your information once we found Eric and Kabuterimon we were going to fight the remaining evil digidestined." Kari snapped from a few feet away.

"What do you mean "remaining" evil digidestined?"

"I MEAN Zoe and MetalSeadramon and Yolei and Puppetmon have already been defeated."

"WHAT!?" The digimon's jaw dropped. "That's impossible!" The rodent leaped in front of Kari and stared at her intensely.

"Hey!" Angewomon lunged at the digimon and lifted the small monster's body into the air and face to face with her. "Watch it."

"You are lying! The evil digidestined are invincible!"

"Ha," Kari chuckled in the background.

"It is true." Angewomon stated. "Our friends defeated them while we were in the forest and ocean territories."

"At least they defeated Zoe and MetalSeadramon," Kari added, "We weren't really there to see what went down with Puppetmon and Yolei."

"What proof do you have?" The rodent growled.

"We have no proof except for our word, which should be more than enough for you."

"That isn't entirely true." Kari hummed to herself.

"What's that?" The mouse in Angewomon's outstretched hand asked.

"What do you mean Kari?" The ultimate angel asked.

"Well when Sakuyamon defeated MetalSeadramon, Zoe pressed some sort of button in her fortress, and then the territory collapsed." Kari answered.

"Ah yes, that's right." Angewomon smiled. "You want proof? Then come with us." Angewomon tossed the rat onto the ground, then (placing herself in between Kari and the suspicious digimon) started walking to the opposite side of the ice territory, where the convergence between the ice and ocean territories used to be.

"You mind telling us your name?" Kari turned back to the mouse hopping through the snow behind them. The rat hesitated, but an angry glance from Angewomon prompted it to speak.

"It's Kumbhiramon." He finally replied.

"Could you tell us why you were in that snow bank Kumbhiramon?" Angewomon asked.

"Why do you care?" The rodent growled.

"Well you obviously weren't in there by choice, and if you are who you say you are then you're against the evil digidestined, and that makes us allies."

"Technically he didn't really say who he was." Kari speculated.

"I was in the snow bank because I was running away from a trio of digimon working for the evil digidestined. They call themselves the "Dark Partners."

"What an interesting name." Angewomon retorted.

"They call themselves that because two of the members are a BlackRapidmon and a Doumon."

"Oh."

"What's a Doumon?" Kari inquired.

"It's the dark form of a Taomon." The angel replied. "Who is the third member Kumbhiramon?"

"A BlackWarGrowlmon."

"Why were they chasing you?" Kari asked the rat.

"My allies Indramon and Pajiramon and I recently procured some information, and they wanted to stop us before we delivered it to our leader."

"Where are your allies now?"

"They stayed behind so that I could escape with the information. That's why I ended up in the snow bank. I slipped on the mountain face while I was running away."

"How noble of you to leave your friends behind." Angewomon scoffed.

"This information is more important than any of our lives, and I was the smallest (and most unseeable) member of our team."

"What information is it?" Questioned Kari.

"I am not at liberty to say." Kumbhiramon grumbled.

"And why is that?"

"As I said, it is very important information, for our leader's ears only-Huh!" Kumbhiramon gasped when he saw the endless expanse of darkness ahead of them. Kumbhiramon ran up to the edge of the ice territory and peered across the open abyss. "How is this possible?"

"As WE told you," Angewomon said cockily, "Our friends defeated MetalSeadramon and probably Puppetmon. Then, out of pettiness they destroyed their territories. Unfortunately we didn't have time to try and save the digimon who were living there. There was a huge cost to defeating those two."

"About fifty years ago the evil digidestined tested their territory collapsing abilities." Kumbhiramon began, "Everything land, water, and life was digitized once it entered the center of the mountain and was implanted safely back on the surface of the digital world."

"Really?" Kari piped.

"Yes. It only took them a few weeks to rebuild the territory strips. You said you defeated them? What happened after that?"

"What do you mean?" Asked Angewomon.

"I mean, did you "finish" them finish them, or did you tie them up, or what?"

"Zoe and Betamon escaped, but we weren't there to see what happened with Yolei and Mushroomon."

"Oh Yggdrasil…" Kumbhiramon sighed.

"What's wrong?" Kari questioned the rodent.

"If they escaped, then all they have to do is wait a week or so and then they'll get their strength back and re-digivolve to mega. Your efforts were worthless."

"But we know how to cure them."

"Cure them?"

"Yeah. Before the evil digidestined were evil, they were trying to save File Island from Devimon. But he infected them with dark needles and they turned evil."

"I've never heard this before." Kumbhiramon growled skeptically.

"A hundred and one years of animosity towards humans will do that to a society." Angewomon reasoned.

"We found out that our digivices can push the dark needles out of the evil digidestined and cure them. We already saved one of them, his name is Matt. He was actually the one that defeated Koichi, the evil digidestined who kidnapped me and led us all to the other dimension. We've captured Koichi too; he's under the watch of some of our old friends in a refugee camp in the desert." Kari lengthily explained.

"You lie!" Kumbhiramon jumped excitedly.

"We don't." Angewomon answered. Both Kari and her angel partner then stared at Kumbhiramon for a few minutes as he paced back and forth and mumbled to himself. They curved their heads curiously as the monster got more and more excited. Finally, after the monster had been jabbering for the past ten minutes endlessly, the two female partners finally had enough.

"Will you tell us what is so exciting!?" Kari snapped. Kumbhiramon jumped back in surprise, but then smiled and looked up at the two girls.

"I think it's time you two met my leader." He smiled.


	46. Who We Are

**Chapter Forty Six: Who We Are**

"So, who is your leader Kumbhiramon?" Angewomon asked as the she, her partner, and the ultimate rodent being addressed marched through the snow/hardened ground of the ice territory, back towards the mountain range they had just departed from.

"His name is SaberLeomon," The mouse replied, "He came to the mountain territory about ten years ago and united all of the resistant forces on this level of the mountain."

"Level?" Angewomon cocked her head.

"It's not formally defined or anything like the territories, but Spiral Mountain is divided into five different elevation levels: the desert base, the large width of the mountain, the medium width of the mountain, the small width of the mountain, and the wasteland cap."

"You said SaberLeomon was your boss?" Kari inquired, changing the subject.

"He is our leader, yes."

"One of our friends from File Island was a champion named Leomon. Do you think they could be the same digimon?"

"Leomon and its variants are a very common type of digimon, I doubt it." Angewomon reasoned.

"Not anymore." Kumbhiramon said solemnly.

"What does that mean?" Asked Kari.

"When the evil digidestined completed their conquest of the digital world and began building Spiral Mountain, they met heavy resistance from many courageous Leomon. As you can imagine, there aren't many left."

"Then that increases our odds." Said Angewomon.

"And how is that?" Kumbhiramon questioned.

"We were told by our friend MetalTyrannomon that Leomon was helping resistance forces on another side of the mountain. If it is true that the Leomon in this world are scarce, then the likelihood that our Leomon and your SaberLeomon are one and the same is higher than you say."

"Your friend MetalTyrannomon said that Leomon had gone to the other side of the mountain?"

"Yes, so?"

"Because SaberLeomon is a mega level digimon, and he has been a SaberLeomon the ten years that the resistance has known him."

"Oh."

"You know, MetalTyrannomon and Tekkamon never told us what happened to Babamon." Kari added to her partner.

"It's likely that Babamon is no longer with us Kari," Angewomon sighed, "She's been alive a lot longer than any other digimon, and she must have been a major target for the evil digidestined."

"There is a Babamon who is a consultant for SaberLeomon, but I have never spoken with her." Kumhiramon commented.

"I believe our luck is getting better." The angel smiled at her partner. Kari laughed back, then addressed Kumbhiramon.

"So how far away is SaberLeomon?" Kari groaned while staring at her again tired feet. "I've been walking too much for the past five weeks."

"Our base is quite far away from here," Kumbhiramon sighed. 'It will probably take days for us to get there."

"Oh, a days long hike through the mountains, that should be fun."

"The trails through the mountains are most difficult to navigate through," Kumbhiramon warned. "We'd do better if we did most of our walking here, in the ice territory, and then move up into the mountains when we need to sleep."

"Why should we do that?"

"There is nowhere for us to hide here Kari, and we would freeze to death." Angewomon answered for the rodent, "Besides, I thought you wanted to walk through the mountains more than the ice territory."

"I did," Kari replied, "Before my blisters started getting blisters."

"None of these locations are very ideal." Kumbhiramon added. "The city territory is the only one that is walker friendly."

"It does not matter," Angewomon said, "We're used to it. Kari will be fine."

"Speak for yourself," Kari groaned, "I'm tired. That "break" that we took a little while ago barely did anything for me."

"We need to change direction now." Kumbhiramon ignored Kari's comment. "The mountain territory has a chronic rockslide problem. Most of the edge of the ice territory is littered with boulders. We don't want to be caught in that."

"This is a really depressing territory Joe has procured for himself here." Angewomon commented. "Freezing cold, no life, a (former) vast ocean on one side and constant rock sides on the other only a mile away, I can't imagine he or Gomamon find this place satisfying."

"Heh, sure," Kumbhiramon breathed, "If that's what you say." Let's pick up the pace."

"What is that supposed to mean, heh sure?" Kari growled.

"Nothing really." Kumbhiramon shrugged. "I just thought the digidestined were smart enough to see with more than just their eyes."

"What are you talking about?" Angewomon glared.

"Look around you two, do you notice anything unusual?" The two partners shrugged. The digimon groaned in response, and then continued. "We're in a frozen tundra, with a mountain range on one side that beats its winds constantly against this territory. On the other side is a bottomless pit that contributes no weather whatsoever."

"What's your point?" Kari shrugged.

"Ugh, my point is, it is cold here, but not TUNDRA cold. There's a soft breeze, some winter snow, and a nasty affect on the body due to prolonged exposure. But there isn't even any sun out."

"This territory is getting warmth from somewhere." Angewomon realized.

"Exactly. You know that there are factories on the city territory?"

"We didn't know that, but okay."

"Where do you suppose they get the material to build things there?"

"I suppose they get wood from the forest territory, and clay from the ocean territory-"

"But where do they get metal and minerals to build their fortresses and their factories and their prisons?"

"Uh…" Angewomon had no response.

"That's what I thought. Come on, there is a vent placed every few miles here. I'm surprised you didn't spot one when you got here."

"What vent?" Kari questioned.

"You'll see, let's hurry on then." Kari and Angewomon, confused, were driven by curiosity to follow the rodent deeper into the middle of the small ice territory for a few minutes until, to the girls' surprise, they could see a column of steam rising into the air from a wide, circular metal vent in the ground. Kumbhiramon carefully pressed two of his paws under the vent and pulled it open. "You want to see something curious?" Kari and Angewomon exchanged glances, and then looked into the pit. They both gasped.

"Oh Yggdrasil," Angewomon stared in bewilderment at the sight before (or rather under) her. Beneath the ground of the ice territory (which was really only about five feet thick) was an enormous river of magma, flowing in the direction of the desert base, about 100 feet under the territory's crust. The angel could make out a few catwalks along the sides of the river, where a rock wall formed a cavern for the river to flow through, as well as a few crossing the massive river of molten rock. She could see some digimon dipping metal canisters into the pool, and dragging out steaming bowls of melting liquid, which was then taken out of the three observer's sights.

"The rest of the digital world is collectively too hot for anyone to survive in, so Kazu and Joe developed a machine that can pump lava from the digital world ocean up to the top of Spiral Mountain, where it flows into the tunnels below the ice territory." Kumbhiramon explained. "The workers use the frigid temperatures of this territory to cool the magma, and then use a combination of cooling and melting from the surface and below to filter the metals out of the rock."

"It's so hot down there." Kari whined as she shielded herself from the current of steaming hot air that was pressing against her.

"The work is incredibly dangerous. Everyday dozens of innocent digimon meet their deaths at the hands of these frozen shores. And perhaps the worst part of it is that the evil digidestined use the metal they process from this territory to build prisons and factories to enslave the rest of the digimon, and lavish palaces with all sorts of luxuries for themselves that we can only imagine."

"I guess you find it hard to believe that the evil digidestined can be turned good, don't you?" Angewomon inquired of the ultimate rodent.

"Strangely no." He answered. "This is just the surface of the evil that Zoe, Yolei, Kazu, Joe, and Ken have suffered upon us. At first I just believed that they were pure evil, but it makes more sense that they are so evil because they have been corrupted by such an infamy as Devimon."

"So I guess the evil digidestined aren't the only thing you fear, are they?" Kari asked with a dry voice. Before the mouse answered, she gave a stern look at her partner, and the angel digimon then took the metal vent out of Kumbhiramon's paws and closed the vent.

"Digimon don't live much extended life spans." Kumbhiramon began. "It's not because we just can't take aging, on the contrary we (theoretically) have the ability to live for thousands and thousands of years. The reason we die so soon and so often is that, as I've heard, before the evil digidestined arrived the world was a run by one rule: survival of the fittest. Outside of the few towns that had established order, and File Island which housed the reincarnated eggs of digimon, all that our species did was try to kill each other for survival. It was because there were so many digimon on our planet that we barely had any space, and we had to fight for territory. But then, the dark beacon appeared and transformed us all into digi-eggs. Then the evil digidestined destroyed most of the eggs on File Island before its inhabitants could salvage them. Only a fraction of our population remained afterwards."

"What is the point to all of this?" Angewomon asked as she began walking again, this time in a more somber mood.

"My point," Kumbhiramon glared, "Is that we die so quickly and so often, with barely any resemblance of a society on our planet, that our history is much left to the winds. The Royal Knights were the only ones that ever kept records, or so I've heard, and once they passed away so did the history of our planet. We know virtually nothing about the past and the past lives that we lived."

"Except for Devimon." Kari asserted.

"Yes, except for Devimon." Kumbhiramon fought to prevent a tear from shedding. "I know nothing about our history except for three things: that our world was created by a mysterious deity named Yggdrasil, that the Royal Knights appeared on the face of the digital world to fight against some great evil, and that once that evil disappeared Devimon, or really Myotismon to be exact, took his place."

"So Myotismon and the digital world have been at constant war with each other since almost the beginning of time?"

"Yes. We don't know what events transpired in the past; only that he eventually released the dark beacon and destroyed all life on this planet for the time being. But then you, the hero digidestined, appeared and defeated him for good. But you disappeared before you could extinguish his legacy, the evil digidestined."

"So it seems that all that happened when Tai and WarGreymon defeated Val was that we defeated the second niche of evil, and allowed a third one to take its place."

"That sounds about right." Kumbhiramon commented.

"What was the first evil that the Royal Knights originally fought?" Kari inquired.

"I don't know, but does it really matter? It is gone, Myotismon is gone, but the evil digidestined are here right now."

"But that's not entirely true." Kari protested. "The evil digidestined are only evil because Devimon made them evil. You're still fighting Devimon, he's just in a different form."

"What does that matter?" Kumbhiramon was getting agitated.

"It matters because you thought the digidestined were just pure evil, but they aren't. They're human kids who were corrupted and they really only want to help this world."

"What?"

"You didn't learn from the past Kumbhiramon. If you did, you would realize that the only true enemy is the dark needles that live within the evil digidestined. And that gives us the advantage, because we can easily defeat them as long as us, the hero digidestined, use our digivices!"

"I know, I'm excited about that, but what is your point!?"

"What Kari is trying to say," Angewomon interrupted, "Is that perhaps if we had remembered and learned from the first force of evil that inhabited our planet, then we could have stopped Myotismon before he caused the damage he did. And the same is true of Myotismon and the evil digidestined. If you had learned from the battles that the inhabitants of File Island and our friends had with Devimon, then you might have been able to handle the evil digidestined better and it might not have taken a hundred years for two of them to be defeated."

"So what, is this some sort of lesson you're trying to teach me here? Those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it? Well I don't need to hear it!"

"I think you do." Kari stated judgmentally. "We know how to defeat the evil digidestined, and it's only because we learned from our past experiences."

"I don't-" Kumbhiramon was about to get into a full blown yell, but then stopped and stared behind Angewomon and Kari with a stunned and terrified look on his face.

"Kumbhiramon?" Kari cocked her head at the small monster, but following Angewomon's lead, snapped out of her confusion and turned around to see what was behind her.

"You know, when I first heard that Kari Kamiya was in my territory," Joe laughed from a few dozen feet away, "I thought about following the leads of Zoe and Yolei, and sending a convoy to greet and capture you. But look what happened to them. So I decided to come see you myself."

"Joe…" Kari mumbled.

"It was really stupid of you to come out here unprotected and exposed Kido!" Kumbhiramon regained his courage and leaped in front of the two human partners.

"Kumbhiramon quiet!" Angewomon lunged out at the monster and stopped it from attacking the boy head on. It was a good thing too, for a second later Gomamon appeared from behind him, and Joe revealed the digivice in his hand.

"So how do you want to go about this?" He smiled. "Should we do the usual song and dance, where we fight and I win? Or, should you just give up now and save yourselves the embarrassment. Or perhaps you will try to run this time, although I can't imagine where you would go."

"Treasure Pestle!" Kumbhiramon leaped out of Angewomon's arms and fired a stream of energy bullets at the evil duo.

"Gomamon!" Joe ordered his partner to defend, and the little monster complied. It jumped in front of his partner and blocked the shower of ammunition from coming into contact with Joe.

"Kumbhiramon, what are you doing?" Kari yelled, but he wasn't listening.

"Take this," He pulled out a folded piece of paper from under his armor and threw it to Kari, "And find SaberLeomon. Please, you must make sure SaberLeomon gets that information."

"Don't do this!" Kari pleaded, but the digimon turned away and leaped towards the smoke cloud, where he was sure that Gomamon was still intact and ready to battle. "Kumbhiramon!" But before she could do anything she felt Angewomon's arm wrapping around her waist and fly away from the battlefield. "No!"

"**Gomamon, warp digivolve to…"** They heard the evil digimon's announcement fade away as Angewomon sped as quickly as she could from the scene and landed a few minutes later on a path in the mountain territory. Angewomon let her partner go and stopped to rest for a second, but Kari would not have it.

"We have to go back!" Kari ordered.

"We will do no such thing!" Angewomon argued back.

"We have to! Kumbhiramon needs us. Joe needs us!"

"Kari, we cannot handle Gomamon's mega form! We have to respect Kumbhiramon's wishes and get this message to SaberLeomon!"

"No! We're going back!"

"We can't!"

"Yes we can!" Tears began to form in Kari's eyes. "Angewomon, Kumbhiramon sacrificed himself to make sure that we, and the information that we held, escaped. We can't let him die for that."

"That's exactly what we have to do, to make sure that this information survives."

"But that's not the only reason." Kari sniffed.

"What?"

"Angewomon, Joe risked his life to save me. He jumped in front of the dark needle and stopped it from turning me, and you, evil. If he hadn't done that, then we wouldn't have been there to save Tai from… from that thing that we saved him from when you digivolved to champion. And if we hadn't been there to save Tai, then he wouldn't have been there to save us from Devimon by helping Greymon digivolve to MetalGreymon. We would all be evil if it weren't for Joe's Sacrifice!"

"Kari-"

"Before, in Shichiri village when we captured him, we didn't know how to save him from the dark needle. But now we do, and I'm not going to let the oppurtunity pass us again. We need to save him. I need to save him!" Kari and Angewomon stared intensely at each other for the next few minutes, each side too overwhelmed to add anything else to the conversation. Finally, Angewomon finally determined something worthy of saying.

"We could die." Angewomon said in a more technical than worried voice.

"That's never stopped us before." Kari smiled.

"Then let's get our friend back. Let's get our friends back." Angewomon nodded, and then bent down so that Kari could climb onto her back. "Keep our digivice at the ready," The angel directed as she flapped her heavenly wings and rose into the air, "We never know when it'll activate."

"Not a problem." Kari nodded, and they were off.

***

"Do you give up yet?" Plesiomon growled laughingly at the broken Kumbhiramon crumpled onto the frozen top soil. Kumbhiramon could not say a word; he was too weak, and many bones were most likely broken. All he could do was stare up at the mega level digimon with pure hatred. Plesiomon was a mammoth that rivaled many a digimon (save for the megalith that was HerculesKabuterimon, who was about twice as big as Plesiomon). The digimon was very much like a Plesiosaurus; a giant snake-like digimon with a fat middle body, a thin tail and neck, and a bird-like head (minus the beak). His body was pure white, except for a few blue markings on his four huge fins, and some blue markings on his back that surrounded the two wing-like fins that rested on his shoulders. Tuffs of white and red hair also roamed around his body. His icy blue eyes attracted Kumbhiramon's attention most however, for they seemed to pierce his soul.

"I'll die first." Kumbhiramon was finally able to reply.

"If that is your wish, then I am more than happy to oblige."

"Screw you." The rodent coughed.

"Sad Water Blast!" Plesiomon piled a beam of water in his mouth, and was about to unleash it had he not been interrupted.

"Celestial Arrow!" A yellow arrow bounced against his head and exploded harmlessly.

"Ow." He grumbled while letting the water flow back into his throat. "You'll pay for that!" He yelled mockingly. Obviously the digimon was confident in his abilities.

"We shall see." Angewomon replied defiantly. She circled the digimon, staying back a few dozen feet, but passed low when she came upon the spot where Joe was standing. The digimon was about to react to his enemy's proximity to his partner, but when she continued on, he decided to keep his cool. What he didn't see, however, was that during the pass Kari had dropped from her partner's back and landed in front of the evil digidestined.

"That was impressive." Joe scoffed at the little girl, "But being able to jump from that height won't save you, especially if you were stupid enough to come back here, knowing what I would do to you."

"What are you going to do: try and kill me like you did with T.K.?" She glared.

"Now why would I do that? I hold all the power now, and there are better uses for you in my new world." He tapped the ground with his foot.

"It's over Joe."

"Oh, is it now? Says who: the weak little girl and her bird brained partner?"

"I may not be strong in size or power, but I have other advantages." She stood up in a stiff position so that her crest was puffed out. Joe could make out the faint outline of pink light glowing from the necklace.

"Oh yes, the digidestined of light. I almost forgot. If it could only make a difference."

"Heaven's Charm!" Angewomon developed a golden cross to block the blast of water that came from Plesiomon's mouth. It knocked the angel across the sky, but she was safe. "Wanna try that again?" Angewomon smiled cockily.

"I'd be glad to- Sorrow Blue!" This time, a sound wave blasted from the monster's mouth and slithered through the air towards Angewomon. She blocked with the energy cross, but this attack was so powerful that the cross grew smaller, and she was forced to land. Angewomon felt the energy fleeing her as she hit the ground, and didn't even have the willpower to keep her cross intact.

"I can't- do this." She came to a sudden realization.

"That's right." Plesiomon smiled. "I'm too powerful. If you surrender now, I might just spare your life."

"But, Kari. I must fight for her."

"Why? I'll kill you if you do, and then I'll be in less of a mood to spare your partner's life. It's better for everyone if you just give up now."

"What has… happened to me?" She whispered to herself. "Why can't I… fight?"

"Because Sorrow Blue takes away whatever drives you to fight on, that's why." Plesiomon laughed. Angewomon looked up at him in horror. "That's right, I am that powerful. You can't defeat me Angewomon. There is no hope, no silver lining in this situation. You are doomed to fall to the overwhelming abilities of our dark powers." He laughed at this.

"It will make a difference Joe." Kari asserted.

"Ha! I'd say don't make me laugh but I actually enjoy you amusing me." Joe chuckled.

"Joe, on our second day here, you saved me from the dark needle, remember? Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"I only did that because at the time I did not realize how great it was to be released from the feelings of pity and compassion. Now that I am who I am, I could not be happier."

"But that's not you Joe. You're the guy who saved me from what you thought would kill me, and you didn't even know who I was. You sacrificed yourself for a stranger. That's the kind of guy you are."

"I'm amazed at how little a fight you and Kumbhiramon put up." Plesiomon laughed as he circled his long neck around the hopeless angel. "I thought we'd have to go through some big battle scene where you desperately hacked away at me while I just laughed in your face. I'm glad it didn't come to that, it's really a waste of time."

"Just… stop talking." Angewomon choked down tears.

"Yes, that's right. Cry. You know you want to. There's nothing else to do. I won't think any less of you than I already do."

"Just stop it!" Angewomon yelled.

"Temper temper," Plesiomon warned, "Sorrow Blue!" Plesiomon blasted another sound wave at Angewomon, and this time she burst into tears. "We don't want you gaining any of that confidence back now would we."

"I'm not that person anymore Kari." Joe smiled.

"But it is who you used to be." Kari pleaded. "It is who you used to be before you were taken over by the dark needle. That's who you truly are-" Before she could finish, Joe smacked her across the face, and out of surprised she winced, gasped, and fell to her knees.

"It doesn't matter what we were before Kamiya!" He yelled. "All that matters is who we are now!" He cracked his knuckles, and then walked up closer to her. "And I'm, as you and your friends like to say, a soulless bastard. Get used to it!"

"If that's how you really feel," Kari spoke after hearing Plesiomon begin to hum, "Then maybe I really am wasting my time."

"You tried an emotional appeal Kari, of course it was a waste of your time, you fool."

"I guess there just isn't any light left in this world anymore, is there?" She almost cried.

"No, there is not." Joe smiled.

"Kari," Angewomon wiped the tears from her face when she heard what her partner had said. "How can you say that?" She then said louder.

"Hey, I thought we agreed you would give up?" Plesiomon growled and stopped humming.

"It's no use Angewomon, we can't win." She cried convincingly.

"Kari no! We can win!" She leaped to her feet.

"That's not what you said." Kari sniffed.

"Kari, stop doubting yourself, stop doubting us. We'll get through this!" She cheered.

"Okay, enough of this, Sorrow Blue!" Plesiomon aimed at Angewomon.

"No, it's not enough!" Angewomon jumped into the air and dodged Plesiomon's sound waves, then kicked him in the head. Plesiomon did not expect this at all, and his head plowed into a thick ice shelf and was jammed in there. "Kari, as long as you and I live, nothing will stop us!" She cried to her partner again.

"You really mean that?" Kari asked woefully as Joe stared back and forth between the two partners in bewilderment.

"Do they really think this will help them?" He whispered to himself.

"I do." Angewomon nodded.

"Then do something about it!" Kari jumped to her feet and cheered with confidence, shocking both Angewomon and Joe. Angewomon quickly realized that Kari had set her up, but didn't care.

"I will!" She cheered as well as a bright pink light rose out of her chest.

"No!" Joe jumped at Kari in an attempt to take her digivice, but the girl already had it in her hand.

"I told you I'd save you Joe!" Kari roared.

"Stop her!" Joe ordered into the air. Just then Plesiomon broke his head out of the ice and dove at Angewomon. "Ayah!" Joe was shoved backwards as the light from Kari's digivice hit him point blank in the chest. It streamed through him for half a second, but to the two humans it seemed like ages. Right afterwards Joe was thrown onto his back and screamed in pain, then the light from Kari's digivice streamed into her partner.

"**Ophanimon!"** Plesiomon bounced off of the ultimate and landed on his enormous back, where he had an excellent view of the new mega as its digivolution light faded away. The angel, who before had been covered in some white cloth and armor, was now completely covered in turquoise form fitting armor, except for her stomach, her mouth, and her legs, the latter of which was covered in a white robe. Ophanimon's gauntlets had turquoise wings on them, and on her left arm a shield with a golden unicorn for its seal was placed. In her right hand, the angel held a long golden javelin, with a ring around the handle that held two spikes and two wings for decoration. The angel now had eight wings, the bottom two of which were still their feathery white form, but the upper six of which were plated and golden. The angels' golden hair now flowed down to her heels, and a cross was placed as a golden visor over her eyes. A golden cross was laid out on her waist plate as well.

"Damn." Plesiomon groaned as he got off of his back and onto his fins. "That's gonna complicate things a bit."

"She's still weaker than you Plesiomon, get her!" Joe painfully yelled. Ophanimon didn't give the sea dragon a chance however.

"Sefirot Crystals!" she immediately formed ten mystical crystals in her hands and fired them down at Plesiomon, who was not prepared for the sharp onslaught.

"Ayah!" He cried in pain. Before he could recover, Ophanimon then set to work beating him with her javelin.

"So what was that about there being no way I could win?" Kari smiled at Joe, who was clutching his chest (covered in a thick white parka) oddly.

"I didn't say that, you did." Joe groaned.

"But I was just bluffing to get Angewomon to digivolve. You were the one who agreed with me."

"This doesn't mean that you've won. Ophanimon may have gained an energy boost from this being her first evolution to mega, but Plesiomon's still stronger."

"But is he smarter?" She smiled, and then ran towards the battlefield.

"What are you doing?" He tried to yell, but then entered a devastating coughing fit. Once it was over, he unbuttoned his parka to see the extent of what had happened to him. When he gazed at his pre-pubescent chest, he was shocked to see a tangle of dark wires protruding from it. "Shit."

Joe was right, however. Plesiomon had soon regained himself and was firing water blasts and sound waves at Ophanimon, which she had to work hard to just avoid. The mega angel had no chance of attacking under these conditions. That is, until Kari hopped behind the sea monster and started blowing raspberries at it.

"Hey!" Plesiomon turned around to glare at the little girl, then quickly realizing his mistake, turned his head to confront Ophanimon, who was surely taking the opportunity to attack. But she was gone. "Where is she!?" Plesiomon objected.

"You're not very smart, are you?" Kari laughed.

"And neither are you! What are you going to do now that your partner isn't here to protect you?" He laughed.

"And what's Joe going to do now that you aren't there to protect him?" She smiled. The grin on Plesiomon's face immediately dropped, and he turned to see Ophanimon holding down his partner with her javelin to his chest.

"No!"

"Eden's Javelin!" Ophanimon quickly slipped her spear into the tangle of cords (at the objection of Joe) and severed them. Joe then immediately let out a blood curdling scream, jumped into the air, and then collapsed unconscious.

"Ayah!" Plesiomon did something similar, but much more dramatic. He screamed in pain and jumped to his hind fins. Then, his body began to mold, buckle, and flow. Ophanimon and Kari watched in awe as the screaming digimon looked to transform into some sort of crude blue merman before degenerating and fall to the ground as Gomamon.

***

"Ugh."

"Ugh." Both Gomamon and Joe woke up at the same time. They were both laying on a crude leaf bed on a mountain trail, next to a sleeping Kumbhiramon. At first the two partners just stared at each other for a while, and then it occurred to Joe that his chest hurt. He opened his parka to see that all over his chest were small black stubs sticking out of his skin.

"We didn't have any bandages," They heard a woman explain, "So I had to delete as much as the dark needle stubs as I could, so that they wouldn't be so much of an inconvenience." Joe and Gomamon looked up to see a tall woman in turquoise armor sitting in front of them.

"Who are you?" Joe coughed. Thanks to the pain from the dark needles, his throat was sore.

"Don't you remember? I'm Ophanimon." She cocked her head. Behind her, Joe could see a young girl tending to a fire. It was just then that they noticed it was dark.

"I remember something. It's sort of a blur. There was this wave, and then I was in a jungle. I don't remember what happened next. I was running, and then this girl was in trouble, and then…" The past 100 years hit Joe all within a few seconds. "Oh no, Kari! Is she okay! No!" Joe clutched his head to counteract the headache that was growing all too powerful.

"Calm yourself." Ophanimon stood up and placed her hand on Joe's head. It seemed to have a soothing effect.

"Joe, what's going on? What happened to us? What did we do?" Gomamon was in a panic as well, but a soothing hand from Ophanimon calmed him down.

"Do you remember what you two have done?" Ophanimon asked. Just then, the young girl walked up behind Ophanimon and stood in silence.

"Yeah, I think so." Joe groaned. "It's all so much to take in. It seems like a dream. No, a nightmare. It seems like an endless nightmare. Did I really do all those things? Did I try to kill a little kid?" He was starting to hyperventilate, but this time Ophanimon gave him a stern look and he calmed down.

"Yes, you did, regrettably." Ophanimon sighed.

"Oh Yggdrasil," Gomamon clutched his forehead. "How did this happen?" Gomamon and Joe seemed to be in their own surreal world, where the atrocities they had committed in the past 100 years all seemed too impossible to believe.

"You were under the influence of the dark needle, an invention of Devimon." She explained. "It was originally meant for my partner Kari, but you intercepted the needle and saved her life, or more accurately, her soul. And mine as well."

"What do you mean "under the influence?" Joe coughed.

"The dark needle took away your conscience. It took away your feeling of respect and caring towards others, and filled that with greed and anger. The only good part of humanity Devimon left you was your relationship to your partner, Gomamon, and if he hadn't we might never have rescued you."

"Why is that? And how did you rescue me?" Joe panicked.

"Joe that little bit of humanity in you was the one thing that kept your soul at all good. If it was not in there, then I needn't have bothered severing the dark needle because there would be no humanity to return to the rest of your body when I did so."

"I don't understand." Joe cried.

"You don't have to, at least not now anyway." Ophanimon smiled this time. "You must rest now. Once your real spirit has reset itself within your body, you will remember everything and then we can talk. Joe, Gomamon, you two go to sleep now and we will talk in the morning."

"But-" they both tried to argue.

"Go to sleep!" She demanded. The two boys nodded, and then prepared to lay down with their thoughts. Before Joe got comfortable, however, the young girl ran up to him and gave him a hug.

"It's good to have you back." She said. "And thanks for not putting up so much of a fight in the process; that saved me from a lot of stress." She smiled, and then ran back to Ophanimon, who was sitting in front of the fire in contemplation. Joe looked curiously at the two girls, then layed down on the soft cot (which he had no idea how it got there) and went to sleep.


	47. For the Forces of Evil

**Chapter Forty Seven: For the Forces of Evil**

**The Digital World, 101 Years Ago**

"Aaaagggghhhh!!!!" Nyaromon and Tokomon squeeled after a bucket of ice cold ocean water flowed down from the treetops and doused them with its contents. After shaking most of the water off of themselves, they looked around the campsite to see just who had done this to them. They were not surprised to see Gummymon rolling on the ground laughing.

"That wasn't funny Gummymon!" Nyaromon stomped past Koromon, Motimon, and Viximon, who were watching cautiously to confront the laughing Gummymon. She glared at him while the in-training slowly stopped laughing, then got back up to his feet (if you could call the wavy folds he used to walk feet), but continued to smile.

"What's the problem Nyaromon?" He chuckled. "Can't you take a joke?"

"I just got cleaned up Gummymon!" She roared. "And now I'm wet and cold! How did you do that anyway!?" He laughed, then hopped over to the tree where Tokomon was drying himself off (and glaring at Gummymon from a safe distance, for he was afraid to get in the way of Nyaromon and her wrath), and patted his floppy ear against an almost invisible cord tied between that tree and the one a few feet away from it.

"Trip wire," He laughed again.

"You jerk!" Nyaromon growled, then started jumping towards Gummymon.

"Ayah!!!" She screamed a battle cry and jumped into the air, ready to pounce on the prankster.

"Agh!" Gummymon cringed in fear, but before the feline in-training could do anything to him, Elecmon appeared out of nowhere and swooped up the angry Nyaromon.

"Now now children, there is no reason to be fighting each other right now." He said calmly before setting Nyaromon gently on the ground.

"He dumped a bucket of cold water on me and Tokomon!" She whined at the caretaker.

"Well that wasn't very nice of you, was it Gummymon?" Elecmon said calmly.

"It was just a prank, it's not like I've never done anything to her before." He said quietly.

"That's the problem!" Nyaromon yelled, "You always pull pranks on me! Why is that? You don't ever do anything to the others!"

"That's not true," Gummymon snapped back defensively, "I pull stuff on Motimon all the time."

"I don't think you want to remind me of those things, unless you want two enemies." The aforementioned digimon growled. Motimon wasn't paying full attention to the conversation though. Right after his comment he hopped over to a tree, where a coverless book was laying, and began to read. "Okay, number one: brain in a vat…"

"Nyaromon, you need to calm down," Elecmon said calmly to the angry in-training, who was busy staring angrily at her enemy. "I want you to go clean yourself up, okay?"

"Yes sir," She groaned after debating it in her head for a few seconds, and then hopped away. "Tokomon, come!" She ordered the less brash digimon, who was quick to follow her.

"Gummymon, I need to talk to you in private." Elecmon then pushed the young green digimon along until they were mostly isolated from Koromon, Viximon, and Motimon.

"I know, I know, I shouldn't keep acting so childish," Gummymon groaned, as he had had this conversation with Elecmon before.

"I just want to know why you keep doing these things," Elecmon pleaded, "You have so much potential, but you waste it on tricking your friends into doing embarrassing things."

"I just did it because it was funny," He replied, "Besides, it's not like there's anything better for me to do around here. It's not like I'm useful for anything."

"Don't say that," Elecmon protested, "You're a very smart and talented digimon."

"You're just saying that to try and cheer me up." Gummymon rolled his eyes.

"Young child," Elecmon pinched the bridge of his nose, "You just built a completely functional wire trap, with no hands! If that isn't talented, then I don't know what is."

"It wasn't that hard." Gummymon replied. "I just-"

"Gummymon," Elecmon interrupted the boy's explanation, "I just want you to remember in the future, that there's a lot more to you than being a comedian."

"Yeah, fine, whatever." Gummymon groaned. Elecmon gave him a sorrowed look, and then gave up his self-esteem boosting quest and led the young digimon back to camp, where Nyaromon and Tokomon had just returned.

"Children," Elecmon announced to all of them, "I'm going up to the metropolis to get some supplies. It will take me at least a day, so I want you to all take care of each other for the next 24 hours."

"Are you sure we'll be safe here Elecmon?" Tokomon asked nervously.

"Don't worry young one. I chose this location for a reason. The evil digidestined will not find you here. Now I must be off, but I assure you that I will be back as soon as possible." They all hugged him goodbye, and then the odd animal hybrid started off into the forest. When the camp was almost out of site, he couldn't help but looking back. "Good luck, my friends," He said solemnly, and then started off towards the metropolis.

**The Digital World, Two Days Ago**

"Hold on!" Whamon sceamed over the crashing waves and the roar of the windy vortex above him. "We're almost there!"

"Are you sure!?" Izzy tried to scream over the horrid noises as well. Whamon fortunately heard him. "We haven't been travelling as long as before!"

"That's because we're not going back to the desert!" The monstro replied.

"Then where are we going!?" Rika shouted.

"There's an enclave in the ice territory! That's the closest place that I can get to for safety!"

"What's happening?" Terriermon groaned.

"Zoe must have activated the collapse-destruct button." Sakuyamon replied in a calm voice.

"A collapse-destruct button!?" Gabumon was shocked.

"Each of the evil digidestined has the ability to digitize their entire territory and place it back on the surface of the digital world unharmed!" Sakuyamon bellowed as the winds picked up.

"Yeah well this seems pretty harmful to me!"

"That's because before the territory can digitize, it has to break apart and fall into the center of Spiral Mountain!"

"What!? That's insane!" Terriermon had a look of horror on his face.

"Don't worry, the territory collapses from the inside out to allow Zoe and Betamon to escape through the transportation tunnels below!" Sakuyamon comforted the bunny-dog.

"And why didn't we just take those!?"

"We didn't take those because the evil digidestined are the only ones who know how to access them!"

"Then how do you know they're there!?"

"Is this really the time for a Q and A Terriermon?" She grumbled.

"We're here!" Whamon bellowed. The three digidestined and their partners looked ahead to see a deep white line on the horizon. As they got closer, they could see a large alcove of water extending into the ice shelf, with a few rickety docks placed randomly along the sides. "Everyone tighten their grip, I'll be coming in almost too fast to stop!"

"Oh, Yggdrasil…" Terriermon moaned. A second later Whamon burst into the deep bay and skidded (somehow) in the water to a stop. The entire ordeal was so violent that all six of Whamon's passengers lost their grip and piled together on the front of his deck.

"We're alive!" Whamon cheered. He then turned around to take a look at the choppy seas he had just emerged from. Whamon's six passengers hadn't noticed how bad the winds were because Whamon was moving so fast, but now all seven of them could see violent waves crashing against each other, and pieces of continental shelf under the ocean rising out of the water and into the air for a split second before they came crashing down again. A final few minutes of watching the ordeal ended in them watching the last grain of sand from the beaches fall into a black, seemingly bottomless pit along with the rest of the territory.

"You said unharmed?" Terriermon breathed to Sakuyamon after the seven stared in silence for a few minutes.

"Yes, no life whatsoever is harmed in that process. It's just incredibly painful to endure."

"Yeah, what was your first clue?" Terriermon scoffed.

"What are we going to do now?" Izzy asked once Whamon swam over to one of the docks and sank down so that his passengers could get onto dry land once again.

"Well what were you going to do before?" Sakuyamon asked obviously.

"First we were going to go fight MetalSeadramon," Terriermon answered, "Then we were going to go look for you. We kind of completed our goal there didn't we?" He laughed.

"We need to find the others. I have to make sure that T.K. is safe." Matt interjected.

"I agree Matt, but how do you expect us to find them. They're on the other side of the world, on the forest territory." Izzy reasoned.

"I don't care," Matt snapped, "I'm going to find my brother. You're welcome to join me." He then began to walk off, and Gabumon with a confused look on his face followed him.

"I hate to break it to you Matt, but you have no idea where you're going!" Izzy called to him. Matt stopped suddenly and then turned around with an agitated look on his face. They heard him grumbling something as he returned to the group.

"I know how to get over there," Rika said, breaking her long silence, "I'll take you."

"Way to go Rika!" Terriermon cheered as he jumped off of the cold ground and onto his partner's shoulder.

"Hey Whamon, will you be okay here?" Izzy turned to their longtime friend.

"Don't worry about me," The sea mammal replied. He then dived down under the water for a second and came back with a mouth full of fish. "Thr ar plntyf fsh na sea." He garbled.

"I wonder how the water stays up like that." Gabumon mentioned.

"Once we find Eric, he can help you get back to the ocean." Izzy assured. The three of them said their goodbyes to the ultimate and then walked off of the dock. Izzy, Terriermon, Matt, and Gabumon then started following Rika and Sakuyamon deep into the ice territory.

**The Digital World, Now**

Kari Kamiya lazily yawned deeply a mouth full of adjectives as she pulled the soft leaf blanket Ophanimon had created for her off and stood up to the morning sun. She rubbed her eyes, and then looked around in appreciation. To her left, a smoldered fire sat pillowing smoke into the air, an excellent signal for Eric and Kabuterimon since they would probably decide to fly to their location. On the other side of the extinguished fire was Ophanimon in a cross legged position, deep in meditative sleep. To her right Joe, Gomamon, and Kumbhiramon lay asleep on the grass cots that Ophanimon had made for them with her supernatural powers, and they were all covered in the same type of leaf blankets that Ophanimon had made for her. It was a good day. Her partner had reached the mega level, Joe and Gomamon were no longer evil, and it wouldn't be long before Eric found them and they could all go to find Tai and T.K. and afterwards, Rika, Matt, and Izzy.

"Are you okay Kari?" Ophanimon asked quietly. Apparently she wasn't asleep after all.

"Yeah I'm fine, just taking in the view." It truly was a beautiful sight. The five souls were on a mountain trail that overlooked a lush, uninhabited valley. The sun had just peeked out of the sky in the south (or rather, over the center of the actual digital world planet to the south), and the colors it made while striking against the sky were immaculate. "You didn't happen to find anything to eat last night did you? I'm starving. I'm thirsty too, but not as much as I'm hungry. Well, maybe its 50-50." She and Ophanimon laughed at the peaceful situation.

"There is a river right up the path Kari," Ophanimon explained, "I will go get us some food and water. You stay here and greet our friends when they awaken."

"Of course," Kari nodded, and then sat down against a large boulder while Ophanimon stood up and started walking around the bend in the trail, where she was soon out of sight. Kari then leaned back so her spine arched over the boulder, placed her head in her palms, and stared up at the sky. She sighed with relief while watching the clouds pass by, a relaxing activity that she hadn't been able to do in the past five weeks. Kari lay against that rock for a few minutes.

"Ugh…" She heard a voice groan to her right. She turned her head to see Kumbhiramon pushing the leaf blanket off of him and stumbling out of his cot, towards the fire.

"Kumbhiramon, you're awake!" She cheered.

"Um…" He rubbed his eyes to try and wake up, "Kari, is that you? Where am I? What happened?"

"Plesiomon knocked you around a bit, so we came and rescued you." She answered.

"That was risky." He mumbled. Bruises from his fight with Plesiomon were still dominating the strength of his movements. "Did SaberLeomon help you?"

"No, we took care of him ourselves." She smiled.

"And how did you manage that?" He asked groggily.

"Angewomon digivolved to mega." Kari answered with a heightened voice.

"I'm too tired to be emotional about it, but congratulations."

"Thanks."

"What happened to Joe and Plesiomon?" Kari chuckled, walked over to the rodent digimon, and pointed behind him. Kumbhiramon turned around to look at the row of beds he had just come from. "Agh!" Adrenalin jump started his system and caused him to leap in the air. Kari caught the monster in her arms before he fell to the ground. "You brought them here!?"

"After we purged the dark needle out of them." Kari surpressed a giggle.

"You… what?" His eyes widened.

"I hit Joe with the data stream from my digivice, just like we planned. The dark needles were pushed mostly out of his body, and then Ophanimon severed them and made them useless."

"Ophanimon?"

"Angewomon's mega form."

"I… I don't believe it." He jumped out of Kari's arms and landed on the ground shakily. "Are you sure? Are they really good now?"

"Would I ever lie to you?" She suppressed another giggle.

"Well, I don't know you that well, so maybe."

"I'm not." Kari stole a quick glance at the monster. He avoided her gaze.

"Hello Kumbhiramon," A soft voice came from the upper path. Kari and the rat turned up to see Ophanimon walking down the path with four fish speared to her javelin, a tree trunk made jug of water and some wooden cups, and some wooden plates. "I see you're feeling better."

"That was fast." Kari commented. "Was there a store by this stream of yours?" She joked.

"Eden's Javelin is very powerful Kari, do not underestimate it." She said plainly, and then set to work building a roast over the fire to prepare the fish.

"So what now?" Kumbhiramon inquired. "You defeated Joe, you going to go after Ken and Kazu?"

"First, we are going to find the rest of our friends, and then we will defeat the remaining evil digidestined." Ophanimon answered. "Until then, we need to get Joe adjusted to a life on the hero digidestined's side. It was mildly difficult with Matt, but Joe should prove to be much harder."

"Why's that?" Kumbhiramon twisted his face.

"Joe's been torturing the digital world for a hundred years. He's killed a lot of digimon and put many more through hell. Matt only did that for a year." Kari reasoned.

"Well then, good luck with that." Kumbhiramon then walked up to Kari and held out his paw. "Can I have that paper back?"

"Oh, sure." Kari reached into her pocket and pulled out the folded and weathered piece of paper, and then placed it in Kumbhiramon's paw. "You mind telling us what it is?"

"I think for the moment I'll keep that to myself."

"Why, don't you trust us?"

"It's not that I don't trust you, I'd just rather not take the chance."

"Yeah, that's fine." Kari shrugged.

"Thank you for all of your help." Kumbhiramon bowed respectively to the girl. "But I think I must be going now. This message needs to get to SaberLeomon."

"You aren't going to take us with you?" Kari cocked her head.

"Don't you need to wait for your friend?"

"Yeah, and when he gets here I'm sure he'd want to meet SaberLeomon as well."

"All the same, the more time that passes the more likely SaberLeomon might make an uninformed decision without this information."

"Be careful Kumbhiramon," Ophanimon said with half of her attention to the conversation, "You said you were being pursued when we found you, I'd hate for them to capture you and make all of this worthless."

"Don't worry; I can take care of myself. Good luck with your… friend." Kumbhiramon nodded to the human asleep on the cot, and then took off down the path.

"Don't forget your fish!" She grabbed the only cooked sea animal and tossed it to the mouse.

"I've never had a fish before. I hope it takes good." Then he left.

"I don't think Kumbhiramon is comfortable with Joe and Gomamon." Ophanimon chuckled.

"I think you're right. I hope he'll be okay." Kari agreed.

"He's got a big ego, but I think he might have the skills to go with it. He'll be fine."

"Joe's waking up." Kari nodded over to the two cots, where the 13 year old former evil boy was stirring awake, and had just pushed the blanket off of him.

"Want some fish?" Kari asked the boy as he struggled to stand up.

"What, no cereal?" He joked exhaustingly.

"Look around, we're not exactly in a cereal place." She gave a depressed smile. Joe rubbed his eyes and followed her directions, looking around at his surroundings.

"Aw crud, are we still here?" He groaned.

"I've said that almost every morning I've been here. I always get the same answer."

"I don't suppose I've been dreaming for the past 100 years, have I?"

"I'm afraid not." Ophanimon replied. "Sit down, have some fish." She placed a filleted catch on one of the wooden plates she made and passed it to the purple haired boy. "Sorry, no silverware."

"It is fine," Joe sighed and sat down on a boulder, "I deserve a lot more than that."

"Let's not talk about that now, eat." She grabbed her plate from Ophanimon and sat against the boulder she was leaning on before.

"What happened to the little guy?" Joe asked. "I know it's not much, but I was hoping to apologize to him."

"He wasn't very comfortable being in the vicinity of digidestined." Ophanimon replied, softening the blow.

"Hey Joe," The three heard Gomamon groan from his cot, "Where did the beds come from?"

"Gomamon, nice to see you're better." Ophanimon smiled. "Here, come eat."

"Is that… fish?" His face turned to a horrified expression when he saw the diced animal on the wooden plate.

"Uh, Gomamon doesn't eat fish." Joe waved the plate away.

"I think I'll go find some berries or something." Gomamon chuckled nervously, and then hopped down the path towards some bushes. After he left, the three ate in silence for the next few minutes. It was too awkward to speak anymore.

"There's some water here if you are thirsty." Ophanimon indicated to the jugs of water she had made with breakfast.

"Thank you very much." Joe nodded, and then stood up to get one of the jugs.

"Kari, Angewomon," They heard a concerned voice in the air bellow. The three figures looked up in confusion just in time to see a lightning fast, ten story beetle slam onto the side of the mountain and shove his face in front of Joe (which was about three times his size). Joe stumbled backwards in horror when he saw the digimon. "Back off Kido," Unknown to him, Gomamon arrived at that exact moment, and when he saw the enormous beetle take over their campsite, he dropped all of his berries and fainted.

"Who are you?" Ophanimon demanded of the giant beetle, jumping up to confront this new creature. "And how did you know who we were?"

"Angewomon?" The monster cocked his head in confusion.

"That's my ultimate form. I'm Ophanimon now." She glared.

"Huh?" He looked to Kari, who was sitting on the ground in stunned confusion.

"Hey!" They heard a voice above the beetle yell. "What's going on down there!?"

"I found Kari and Angewomon, I think."

"Who are you?" Kari asked.

"Kari!?" The voice above the addressed beetle called. A minute later they could see a blond haired boy jumping down the huge beetle's arm (which had taken a sloped form) and arrive at its foot.

"Eric!" Kari cheered.

***

_**Các nhân viên**_

Rika wiped the crud off of the wooden door so that its name could be seen clearly.

"What does that mean?" Izzy inquired.

"I don't know." Rika replied plainly. "The resistance forces named it. It used to be a medical station for wayward digimon until Ken and Imperialdramon found it and torched the place. Now it's abandoned, but we'll be safe here for the night." Rika pushed the door open and walked into the old wooden building and out of the forest covered mountains that the six had been hiking through for the past two days. Sakuyamon, Izzy, Matt, Terriermon, and Gabumon followed her inside.

***

"Izzy, get up and get ready to go." Rika ordered the boy as she pushed his head around with her shoe. Izzy groaned tiredly but cooperated and got up. "Me and Sakuyamon are going to scout the area and make sure no enemies are nearby. We'll be right back." She and Sakuyamon then opened the door of the barren, one roomed building and walked outside.

"She scares me." Matt commented as he put his shoes back on (he had just gotten up as well).

"Why's that?" Izzy questioned while putting his laptop bag on his back.

"She's so much darker now. We've been back for half a day and she has barely even acknowledged that us."

"She did when we first met up with her." Terriermon argued.

"Yeah, but now she just seems to have fallen back into her normal routine. It's like she's not happy at all anymore."

"I know what you mean." Izzy replied. "She's distanced herself from us, like it's too surreal that we're here. But she and Sakuyamon have been alone for a hundred years. We might want to cut her some slack." Just then, the door opened and Rika and Sakuyamon walked back in.

"It's clear." Rika stated. "Let's go." She waved her hand, and the four boys in the hut worriedly followed her. They were all about to exit the hut when a frightened rodent digimon bounced into the room and bowled the six back into the floor. Sakuyamon, Gabumon, and Terriermon immediately jumped to their feet and surrounded the rodent, who was on the floor, stunned from his collision, and just now getting up.

"That's some nice scouting you did there Sakuyamon." Terriermon groaned. When the finally showed his face, Sakuyamon let out a gasp.

"Kumbhiramon?" She inquired.

"Sakuyamon, oh thank Yggdrasil!" He leaped up into the fox-woman's arms and hugged (or tried to hug) her tightly.

"Kumbhiramon, what are you doing here?" Rika groaned as she got off of the floor. Matt and Izzy were right behind her, but decided not to join in the conversation due to the terrified face on Kumbhiramon and the angry face on Rika.

"Rika, Kumbhiramon, they found me!"

"Who found you?"

"The Evil Partners!"

"The who?" Matt cocked his head.

"Oh damn." Sakuyamon groaned as she dropped the frightened rodent onto the floor.

"Who are the Evil Partners?" Terriermon inquired.

"Just about the most powerful ultimate level digimon on this planet." Sakuyamon replied angrily.

"Why are they after you?" Rika pulled the metal covered digimon off of the ground and looked into his eyes.

"Because I found the location to all of the evil digidestined's bases!"


	48. To Win in the World

**Chapter Forty Eight: To Win in the World**

"Rika, who are the Evil Partners!?" Matt urged the girl in weathered clothing, who was staring at Kumbhiramon and Sakuyamon intently.

"We have to get out of here now." She finally said.

"You said they're ultimates." Izzy started. "That means that we should be able to take them. Sakuyamon and MetalGarurumon are both a level above them, and Rapidmon isn't exactly a pushover." Upon this statement, Rika flipped her head towards Izzy and gave him a horrific glare.

"You do NOT want to fight the Evil Partners." She barked. "We're going now." She tapped Sakuyamon on the shoulder and ran out the door. Sakuyamon then ran out after her, with Kumbhiramon behind.

"Why are they afraid of some ultimates?" Matt questioned.

"Are you coming?" Sakuyamon leaned back to the door. "I would highly recommend it." The four boys looked at each other, but didn't argue with her. They followed Sakuyamon out the door and were surprised to see Rika and Kumbhiramon deep in the forest, almost out of sight. "Hurry up." She then bolted after them.

"Why are three ultimate digimon so frightening?" Matt breathed as the four hurried to run after the fox-woman, who was much faster than them.

"They aren't normal ultimates." Sakuyamon rolled her eyes. "The evil digidestined imbued them with "special" powers."

"What's so special about them?" Before Sakuyamon could answer, a missile flew through the air and crashed into a tree. Instead of it splintering into a million pieces, however it melted into a dark mist.

"That's what."

"Keep running!" Rika cried.

"Rika, we have to fight!" Sakuyamon called to her. Another missile then crashed into a tree just behind Izzy, who was the slowest of the group, and obliterated it into a dark smoke.

"No!" She ordered.

"We can't outrun them!"

"Yes we can!"

"No you can't!" A huge black dragon with metal shoulder pads and missiles and a hovering pack imbedded in the square-like chest piece stomped through the trees and landed right in front of Rika, who was leading the group. The girl skidded to a stop and forced everyone behind her to come to a sudden halt as well.

"You should have listened to Sakuyamon." A Taomon with a dark skin tone then lowered itself out of the sky and landed to the group's right.

"We might not be so annoyed with you right now if you had stopped earlier." A black toned Rapidmon floated down from the sky and landed to their left.

"Matt, Izzy, meet BlackWarGrowlmon, Doumon, and BlackRapidmon."

"Who are your friends Rika?" BlackRapidmon chuckled. "I always like to get to know my prey before I slaughter them."

"I think they're the other hero digidestined Ken warned us about." Doumon suggested.

"Well then," BlackRapidmon smiled, "This should be interesting."

"Rika, they're evil right?" Matt inquired in a quiet voice.

"Of course they're evil." She growled.

"And we'd be better off if they were gone right?"

"Duh. What are you getting at-" Her eyes widened, but before she could oppose his actions Matt had already tapped his digivice. A huge stream of light-blue light then surrounded Gabumon and a second later MetalGarurumon stood at attention.

"So we're jumping right into it. Fine with me!" BlackWarGrowlmon roared happily.

"Hyah!" MetalGarurumon didn't waste any time. Before anyone could react he pounced onto BlackWarGrowlmon and knocked the both of them deeper into the forest.

"Jugonsatsu!" Doumon slapped a paper onto her brush and used the staff to toss the paper towards Sakuyamon, which sliced through the air quickly.

"Talisman Sphere!" Sakuyamon quickly formed a crystalline barrier around the rest of the group and blocked the tag from hitting her or anyone else. It was fortunate, for upon impact the shield disintegrated. Sakuyamon then jumped towards Doumon and slammed her with her staff, knocking them both deeper into the forest.

"What do ya say Terriermon," The BlackRapidmon laughed while smashing his fists together. "Wanna dance?"

**"Terriermon digivolve to… Gargomon!"** The loaded bunny-dog leaped into the air and dropped dramatically in front of BlackRapidmon.

"Only to Gargomon? That's brave." The ultimate said condescendingly.

"I don't need to be any higher than champion to defeat you." Gargomon said defiantly.

"Oh, is that true?"

"Yeah. Wanna know why?" All BlackRapidmon did was laugh. While his head was up in the air however, Gargomon focused on the ground and then smashed his fist into the rocky soil under him. "Rapid Fire!" Everyone stared at the two bunny-dogs curiously for a second.

"That's it?" BlackRapidmon cocked his head. Then a stream of green energy bullets pillared from the ground and slammed right into BlackRapidmon's jaw. The rabbit was knocked onto his back in surprise, but quickly recuperated and jumped to his feet. He was immediately met face to face with Gargomon.

"Bunny Pummel!" Gargomon slammed his fist into Rapidmon's gut and knocked the digimon back a hundred feet into the forest where he obliterated a tree the old fashioned way. Gargomon then dashed forward to confront his opponent.

"Rapid Fire!" Rapidmon jumped up and attacked before Gargomon arrived to attack. His missiles spiraled towards the lower level bunny and forced him to jump into the air to avoid the blasts. They slammed into trees a few yards away and transformed them into dust.

"Does that work with everything you hit?" Gargomon inquired while hanging from a tree.

"Every time. Even megas." He smiled.

"Oh." Gargomon dropped to the ground. "Gargo Laser!"

"Rapid Fire!" Both attacks collided in midair, but closer to Gargomon. The ultimate then jumped over the dust cloud immediately and pounced onto Gargomon. He dodged however and followed up with a punch of his own.

"You'll have to do better than that!" Gargomon laughed while rolling to the side to avoid his opponent's strike. He then followed up with an uppercut towards Rapidmon's jaw. The dark digimon pivoted on his heel and spun around for a powerful kick. Gargomon could not avoid this so he quickly snapped his arms together to defend. BlackRapidmon's foot then collided with Gargomon's Gatling guns and knocked the champion into a tree.

"Rapid Fire!" Rapidmon immediately fired one of his arm missiles at Gargomon. Gargomon then pushed off of the tree and dodge rolled to his left before the missile collided and vaporized the tree Gargomon had made an indention in.

"Gargo Laser!" Gargomon threw his arm forward and fired the laser. Rapidmon jumped to dodge, but then realized that the beads had not come anywhere near him.

"You missed." Rapidmon scoffed.

"Sure about that?" Gargomon smiled. Rapidmon gave him a confused stare, but then realized what had happened when he felt a small gust above him. He looked up just in time to see a tree barreling down on him after having been chopped down by Gargomon's blast. He quickly threw his arms up to block the tree from slamming into his head. Gargomon didn't give him time to prepare himself, however. "Gargo Laser!" He immediately fired both Gatling Guns at Rapidmon, who had no way of defending as his hands were about to block a tree from hitting him. Rapidmon was trapped. He was helpless as the bullets from Gargomon collided with his stomach and forced him to double over in pain, and then the large log above him struck his back hard and fast and knocked him onto the ground.

"Ayah!!!!" BlackRapidmon roared in immense pain at the double attack, but Gargomon wouldn't let up. He dashed towards Rapidmon and then jumped a ways into the air with his fist pulled behind his head and torso.

"Bunny Pummel!" He drove his metal covered knuckles into Rapidmon's head, who bellowed in intense pain as Gargomon used his arm (implanted in Rapidmon's cranium) to flip over and land on the overturned tree, which he did with enough force to draw another cry of pain from BlackRapidmon.

"How did you-cough!-do that?" Rapidmon struggled to say.

"Easy. You're a Rapidmon. I knew how you thought, and how you would try to fight me." Gargomon replied cockily.

"But, you were only a champion…"

"Which made it even easier. If I had evolved to Rapidmon, we would have just mirrored each other and neither of us would have gotten anything done. Besides, this way you let your guard down because you thought you were just fighting a weak champion."

"I've heard about you… from Ken and Imperialdramon. You're not supposed to… be strong or smart. Just an average member of their team."

"Hey! I may not be as good as WarGreymon or Sakuyamon, but when it comes to bunny-dogs I know what I'm doing!" He gave a triumphant smile. "Gargo Laser!" He fired his lasers into Rapidmon's face one last time. What he didn't expect was that Rapidmon had more energy than Gargomon realized. Before Gargomon knew what was happening, Rapidmon knocked the tree up into the air and threw Gargomon across the sky where he crashed into a tree and rolled to the ground.

"Thanks for telling me your plan." Rapidmon laughed. He then raised his arm into the air and fired a missile just before the tree he had thrown into the air hit him again. "Now this'll be much easier."

"Looks like I underestimated you." Gargomon said goofily as he struggled to his feet. "Although you've still underestimated me."

"What does that mean?" Rapidmon growled suspiciously. Then, the tree directly behind him that Gargomon had knocked down with his Gargo Laser just before he told BlackRapidmon of his plan cracked Rapidmon on the head and knocked him unconscious.

"Idiot." Gargomon shook his head. **"Gargomon digivolve to… Rapidmon!"** The ultimate rabbit then walked calmly towards his unconscious enemy and, when he was standing over him in a dramatic pose, aimed his fist towards the monster and said: "Rapid Fire!"

***

Rika stared in awe as the green Rapidmon walked calmly out of the sloped forest and into the clearing that BlackWarGrowlmon had made, which the three humans and Kumbhiramon had moved into after the battles had started. "Please don't tell me you're done already." She gasped.

"He wasn't as strong as you made them out to be." Rapidmon smiled. "You made it seem like he was some all powerful deity that could outwit even a mega."

"They can!" MetalGarurumon jumped into the clearing in a battered state. "I barely made it out of there alive. We need to find Sakuyamon and get out of here now!"

"You finally listen to me!" Rika groaned. "Sakuyamon, let's move out!" She bellowed into the forest. A second later an out of breath Sakuyamon suddenly appeared in the clearing and created a shield around the lot of them.

"They'll be back soon, we can't waste any time." She then raised the sphere into the air and directed it to speed off into the air, towards a location that Matt, Izzy, MetalGarurumon, nor Rapidmon knew of. "They won't be far behind, we need to take evasive action." Sakuyamon reasoned.

"No, they'll wait for BlackRapidmon to return, and when he doesn't they'll go look for him. We have plenty of time." Said Rika.

"Excuse me?" Sakuyamon asked in shock.

"Rapidmon defeated BlackRapidmon." Rika said somberly.

"I didn't just defeat him, I blew his head off." He raised his fist and smiled. Sakuyamon waited half a minute before saying anything.

"Excuse me?" Sakuyamon gasped.

"Ugh," MetalGarurumon dropped to his stomach, "Does it really matter? As long as the job got done, I'm not complaining that an ultimate did a better job than we did."

"Thanks." Rapidmon peeped. "I think."

"How did you defeat him so fast?" Sakuyamon inquired. "I've been trying to for fifty years."

"Yeah, sure, don't listen to me." MetalGarurumon murmured.

"He was a Rapidmon, I knew how he would fight. I tired him out as Gargomon so we wouldn't mirror each other and then digivolved to Rapidmon to finish him off. You should have done that too, I don't know why you didn't think of it with Doumon."

"Since when are you smart?" Rika asked rudely.

"He's always been smart." Sakuyamon rolled her eyes. "He just only used that thing he calls a brain to pull pranks on Nyaromon and Motimon."

"Hey!" Rapidmon protested.

"She sort of complimented you Rapidmon." Izzy calmed his partner. "It was an insulting compliment, but a compliment at that."

***

"That's an impressive mega form." Kari looked up appealingly at HerculesKabuterimon, who was watching Joe and Gomamon with intensity while Eric and Kari talked. "So HerculesKabuterimon defeated Yolei and Puppetmon?"

"Yup," Eric answered proudly, "Good and proper too."

"So I'm guessing they got away, since they collapsed the forest territory."

"It's a bit more complicated than that actually." Eric said nervously.

"How?"

"We caught Yolei and Mushroomon, and had them with us when we were coming to find you," HerculesKabuterimon grumbled, "But on a pit stop that a certain someone just insisted that we had to take, that certain Someone accidentally let Yolei's crest and digivice fall out of Someone's pocket, and she immediately grabbed it and digivolved Mushroomon back to Puppetmon." HerculesKabuterimon spoke with enough emphasizes to cause pain in Eric's ears.

"Yeah, she gets it Kabuterimon. Fortunately she said she had "bigger fish to fry", and then they took off." Eric stated. Kari and Ophanimon looked at each other with ironic thoughts.

***

"Oh my freaking god!" Zoe banged her head repeatedly against the wall of the tactical command center of the castle atop Spiral Mountain. Her self-abuse was due to the fact that a satellite camera had just recorded the brutal massacre of their prized BlackRapidmon by one of the digidestined partners.

"Can't we ever get a god damn break!?"

"Calm down Zoe." Ken said reassuringly.

"Calm down!? They've defeated three of us! They turned Joe to their side! And now they destroyed a third of what was supposed to be our invincible army! Give me one good reason why I should be calm!"

"I'll give you three." Ken smirked. "One, Rapidmon didn't do as good a job destroying BlackRapidmon as he thinks he has. Two, Yolei's escaped Eric and Kabuterimon, and she's on her way right now to tell Kazu about how things are deteriorating over here."

"And three?"

"You and I are going to go down there and handle Rika, Matt, and Izzy ourselves. Our mega level partners combined with the "Evil Partners" will ensure our victory. There's no way they can take all five of us on."

"Unless Rapidmon finds some way to digivolve." Zoe grumbled.

"Stop being so pessimistic. Now I'm going to go on ahead and head down there; you grab Betamon and catch up to me."

"Fine." She groaned as Ken ran out of the room. She turned to head for the door as well when she suddenly heard a voice.

"Oh Zoe…"

"Ayah!" She grabbed a staff that was sitting in a mounted position on the table and flipped it around her in a defensive stance. "Who's there!?"

"Zoe, I have a job for you." The voice appealed.

"I don't take orders from anyone thank you very much!"

"Are you sure about that? Because I seem to recall Ken Ichijoji bossing you around not 30 seconds ago."

"That's different. We respect his decisions but break them anytime we feel like we have to disagree."

"I'm sure that's a great system, but I think things worked better when I was in charge." The voice hissed creepily.

"When you were in charge?"

"Yes."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Oh Zoe, you were always such a simple one. It was always "hit things first, ask questions later" with you. That's why you're perfect for this job. All you have to do is knock someone around a little bit."

"If you want me to even consider helping you, then you had better reveal yourself right now!"

"Zoe, I'm going to be very disappointed if you do not realize who I am before I am forced to reveal myself, and if you know me at all you'll know I don't like disappointment. Remember what happened to the last guy who disappointed me too much? I kicked him out of the club."

"Kicked him out of the…" A thought in her head clicked. "Oh god, master Devimon!" She immediately dropped her staff and bowed in respect towards the table, where she assumed correctly that her old master dropped from the shadowed ceiling to stand.

"More or less. But I'm still the same mon." He joked with a seemingly dual voice.

"Master, please forgive us. But we realized that we would be able to take over this world for you better if you were… absent for some time."

"I don't want to hear your excuses Yolei. I'm not happy about your betrayal, but you are right, it could not have worked out better."

"It couldn't?"

"No, for you see, these hundred years have been most productive. My seeds have been growing, and they're almost ready to harvest."

"Harvest what seeds?"

"You'll find out soon enough. But I need you to do something for me first."

"Of course. But I should tell Ken that-"

"You will tell Ken nothing!" DemiDevimon yelled.

"Of course sir," Zoe agreed nervously, "But why?"

"You've grown more insolent in your old age. There was a time when you would have asked me if you could have asked the question before you actually asked it."

"Forgive me master," Zoe bowed again, "May I ask why we needn't tell Ken?"

"I've been watching what's been going on here for some time now. I have no doubts about the loyalty of you, Yolei, Kazu, or Koichi (and of course Joe is out of the picture), but I think Ken rather likes his total control status."

"If I may, he doesn't have total control. We have the power to overthrow him if he gets too power hungry."

"I'm sure that's what you believe, but we don't need to worry about that right now. At the moment, we have bigger fish to fry. Or I should say seeds to harvest."

***

"Um, Sakuyamon…" Rika tugged at her partner's side and pointed behind the sphere that the mega fox was steering. She turned her head for a second to see three dark digimon racing towards them.

"It looks like somebody wasn't entirely truthful when they said they defeated BlackRapidmon." Sakuyamon said judgmentally.

"I told you, I blew his head off!" Rapidmon defended himself.

"Uh, I don't think Rapidmon was lying!" Matt pointed out the sphere directly to BlackRapidmon, as the three had gotten disturbingly close to them. As the seven focused on the supposedly defeated opponent, they noticed that his real head (and massive ears) were gone, and that all that remained was a black mist in the general shape of his head.

"Matt, Izzy, get on my back." MetalGarurumon ordered.

"Rika, Kumbhiramon, hold on to me." Sakuyamon followed suit.

"You guys get out of here." Rapidmon demanded. "I have a score to settle."

"Don't be foolish Rapidmon," Sakuyamon denounced the green armor covered rabbit, "You decapitated him, and yet there he is, flying towards us. They cannot be destroyed."

"I won't be insulted like that. He's going down!"

"Rapidmon-" MetalGarurumon began.

"Look! Elecmon told me a long time ago that I had potential, and that I should remember that when the time came! Well now we're in danger, and this guy's insulting me just by being alive! I'm taking him down!"

"I just wanted to say be careful." MetalGarurumon said in a surprised voice. "You blew his head off and he's still alive. It might be a tough fight."

"Oh. Thanks."

"Rapid Fire!" The (Headless) BlackRapidmon on the other side of the sphere then shot a missile towards them. All three digimon jumped away from contact with it as the sphere was disintegrated. Then Sakuyamon and MetalGarurumon flew off in separate directions, with Doumon and BlackWarGrowlmon following either one of them.

"It's just you and me again BlackRapidmon." Rapidmon stated boldly while pointing at the dark monster in a dramatic pose.

"Hassah mannasssassa." BlackRapidmon hissed.

"Sheesh, looks like I did do some damage after all." Rapidmon joked.

"Sooshoo Kalabah!" BlackRapidmon charged towards him with a fist raised.

"Bunny Pummel!" Rapidmon did the same, and soon they collided punches and were drawn into a flurry of fists and kicks.

"Ayah! Ayah!" Rapidmon spun around twice in opposite directions to deliver forceful kicks to his enemy, but BlackRapidmon was adequet at dodging them and then countering with punches of his own. Rapidmon had to roll backwards to dodge this counter attack. He then shot his leg upward in an attempt to catch BlackRapidmon in the gut, but the dark rabbit blocked with his arms and pushed away into the air. Rapidmon spun around just in time to see BlackRapidmon aiming his arm at the green bunny.

"Zozon Bon!" A missile blasted out of his arm and spiraled towards Rapidmon. Rapidmon countered with a "Rapid Fire" of his own, and when the two attacks hit each other he spun around the cloud to attack BlackRapidmon, but the monster was already gone. Once the smoke cleared Rapidmon could see that BlackRapidmon had done the opposite thing and rounded the cloud to get at Rapidmon.

"I told you," Rapidmon raised his fist at the darker him, "We're just mirroring each other. There's no use in fighting, because neither of us will win." BlackRapidmon then immediately dropped down into the forest. "Hey!" Rapidmon chased after him. When he landed, he saw an innocent Gummymon being manhandled by the evil digimon. "Back off him!" Rapidmon raised his fist, but backed off when he saw Rapidmon placing the in-training on his head (covering the mist). The green monster's eyes suddenly went white.

"We are not evenly matched you fool." Gummymon said in his voice but in BlackRapidmon's words. "The powers bestowed to me by Master Ken are stronger than you could possibly comprehend. As long as my heart remains intact, I cannot die." Upon these words Rapidmon immediately slammed BlackRapidmon in the gut and knocked him into the sky. Rapidmon then raced after him, catching the Gummymon that had fallen off of his foe's head on the way and placing it in a tree, and then going to confront the BlackRapidmon. His moves were fast.

"Thanks for the tip no-head!" He immediately grabbed BlackRapidmon's neck (what was left of it) with his left arm. It had an unexpected affect for BlackRapidmon, whose head was immediately combined with the object. Unfortunately for him, the combination of these two body parts was useless. "Now prepare for a most humiliating defeat!" He then commenced to drive his fist into BlackRapidmon's chest piece, slowly cracking it more and more with each punch. After a few minutes, he had broken past the metal and was punching directly into BlackRapidmon's gut. A couple dozen power housed fists later, Rapidmon penetrated BlackRapidmon's ribcage and pierced his heart. BlackRapidmon tried to let out a scream but, was obviously incapacitated, and so all he could do was struggle violently as pain consumed him and he eventually faded away into data. At this particular point, MetalGarurumon and Sakuyamon had doubled back for tactical purposes, so they, the human partners, Kumbhiramon, Doumon, and BlackWarGrowlmon were there to watch the whole thing. After most of BlackRapidmon was gone, Rapidmon dropped his shoulders so that the last bit of BlackRapidmon streamed across the sky in a tail of data. He then turned around to face Doumon and BlackWarGrowlmon, who were looking at him with horror-struck faces. He made an advancing move, and they both let out a small cry of panic and flew away.

"I don't believe this," Sakuyamon said in awe as the three hero digimon converged in the center of the sky. "You actually did it. It was ruthless and gruesome, but you actually did it."

"That was pretty brutal Rapidmon," MetalGarurumon said in awe as well, "I don't think even I would have done something so gorrific." He then whispered to himself "Is that even a word?"

"You heard him, "Rapidmon said with a large grin on his face, "That was the only way to defeat him. It wasn't even a real challenge. I could have done that in my sleep."

"BOOM!!!!" Trees shattered under the slip stream of Imperialdramon as he came like a rocket to a few dozen yards in front of the four digimon and three humans.

"Now him, I might have a problem with."


	49. Enough Good Men

**Chapter Forty Nine: Enough Good Men**

Rika Nonaka had never actually seen Imperialdramon. She had spent most of the last 100 years fighting MetalSeadramon in random skirmishes on the ocean territory, and only ventured into other territories when she needed supplies or aid, and as such had only heard stories about him. She had actually only ever lain eyes on MetalSeadramon and Puppetmon. So that it was understandable that when she saw Imperialdramon (as she was used to the five story sea snake and the five foot mannequin), when she saw the 100 foot digimon up close and personal, she screamed. It was understandable that she screamed, but not so much that she squealed like a 4 year old child.

Izzy and Matt did it too, so maybe it was understandable. Sakuyamon, MetalGarurumon, and Rapidmon squealed too; it was definitely understandable. Kumbhiramon had seen that sort of thing all the time.

"Is he supposed to be that big?" Rapidmon fought stuttering.

"Unfortunately," Kumbhiramon replied.

Imperialdramon was perhaps the most impressive digimon the three digidestined and their partners had ever seen. Yes, he was a hundred feet tall, and that was terrifying enough. But he was also a dragon-man. All resemblance of Stingmon within him was gone, so he was basically Ex-Veemon being controlled by Ken's evil partner. Except he was a hundred feet tall, with black, three dragon-toed armor boots, black and white armor covering his legs, waist, and stomach, black metal gauntlets with two golden claws on each, black armor covering his upper arms, huge red leathery wings, large black shoulder-pieces with parallel golden spikes, a large black chest piece with a red, black, and white dragon head embedded on it, and a golden crown on his simple blue head (as well as a tail). Yes, Imperialdramon was perhaps the most impressive digimon the three digidestined and their partners had ever seen, until HerculesKabuterimon flew across the sky and punched him in the face a few seconds after the dragon-man got there.

"Hey!" Kari and Eric waved on HerculesKabuterimon's back to their six friends hovering in the sky while Imperialdramon fell into the valley below. "You're lucky you were so close, it was easy to spot you." At that moment, Eric and Kari were grabbed at the waist by Ophanimon and hovered over to their friends. "How's it going?"

"Uh, what's going on here?" Rika was stunned at the two mega level digimon hovering in front of them. "Should Sakuyamon and I have even bothered with fighting the evil digidestined for a hundred years? Because you people seem to be just so much better at it."

"We're better as a group Rika," Kari stated with pride, "You can't do everything yourself.

"So who was that, Paildramon?" Eric asked. "He's not a machine, so it's definitely not Andromon, and I'd say it was Zudomon but…" Eric glanced to Ophanimon.

"You can come on out now." Ophanimon assured the two people hanging on her back.

"What the hell is going on here!?" Rika roared, overwhelmed.

"Both of you got your partners to digivolve within two days?" Matt asked in surprise.

"Well they did more work than we did, but we certainly helped them." Eric grinned.

"Yeah, whether we encouraged them to digivolve or forced them to pick up the slack because of how incompetent we were." Kari said sarcastically.

"I wasn't incompetent; I just went catatonic for a minute!" Eric poorly defended himself. "If Tai and T.K. can do it, then I should be able to too. Besides, I heard what you did wasn't encouragement so much as flat out tricking your partner into evolving."

"It worked, didn't it?"

"What I did worked too. That doesn't make it a good thing." Matt, Rika, Sakuyamon, and MetalGarurumon just stared in shock. Izzy and Rapidmon were focused on other things.

"Hey guys." Kumbhiramon cheered to his two relatively new friends.

"Hey, Kumbhiramon, what are the odds?" Kari said happily.

"Pretty high actually." Eric murmured to himself.

"You know Kumbhiramon?" Rika gaped.

"We met him yesterday." Kari explained.

"I said you could come out now." Ophanimon said again.

"Right, sorry." A voice on her back said. Rika, Matt, Sakuyamon, and MetalGarurumon then watched in horror as Joe Kido and his partner Gomamon climbed up her shoulders.

"Okay, it's definitely getting too crowded up here." MetalGarurumon murmured.

"Hey Kabuterimon!" Izzy called to his friend's partner. "Unless you want to fight alone you should probably convince your friends to put us all down." He then pointed to Imperialdramon, who was crawling out of the forest.

"Everyone get on my back (and it's HerculesKabuterimon)," All three passenger carriers then drifted over to HerculesKabuterimon and dropped off the six humans and Kumbhiramon on the ten story beetle's back.

"We'll hold them off until you return." Ophanimon said to her friend.

"Right," HerculesKabuterimon whispered, and then started flying down to the valley floor.

"I don't suppose you want to join in on this fight, do you Kumbhiramon?" Kari asked the rodent she had departed from only hours before.

"Yeah, I think I might have to sit this one out." He said sarcastically.

"I'll help." Gomamon stated, drawing concerned attention from Rika, Matt, and Izzy, who didn't know what to make of the situation.

"You sure you up for it?" Eric asked. "Can you fight someone you've been allies with for a hundred years?"

"As long as you don't need me to kill him, then yeah."

"We weren't going to go that far," Kari mumbled.

"Then suit up!" Gomamon jumped off of HerculesKabuterimon's back with the rest of the group, HerculesKabuterimon took off towards the battle, and then Gomamon digivolved.

**"Gomamon, warp digivolve to… Zudomon!"** The water mammal's digivolution stopped short of where he was going. "Huh?"

"It's probably just because you're tired!" Kari called up to him. "Don't worry; you've got four megas there with you!" Zudomon nodded, and then stomped towards the battlefield.

"I don't suppose you'd mind telling us (said Matt) what the HELL IS GOING ON!!!???"

***

"You're going to pay for that." Imperialdramon groaned as he levitated himself into the air. "I do not appreciate what you just did."

"I didn't do it." Sakuyamon said in a condescending voice.

"But it's not like it matters." MetalGarurumon laughed.

"You're outnumbered jackass." Rapidmon said defiantly.

"And outsmarted too." Ophanimon smiled.

"Wisdom, Knowledge, Friendship, Light, and Love against Prudence?" HerculesKabuterimon said in a louder voice that uncomforted the smaller digimon, "I don't think we'll have a problem here."

"And Reliability too." Zudomon dragged himself onto the ground level of the battlefield.

"Nice timing." Ophanimon smiled. MetalGarurumon, Sakuyamon, and Rapidmon were concerned but trusted Ophanimon and HerculesKabuterimon's faith in the apparently former enemy.

"So that's it Zudomon, you're just going to abandon us?" Imperialdramon grumbled in a low voice.

"I don't want to talk about this Imperialdramon." The much shorter digimon complained.

"Well then, I hope you enjoy this." Imperialdramon then smiled.

"Cover your ears!" Zudomon called to the four digimon above him, but it was too late.

"Ayah!!!!" All Imperialdramon had to do was let out a short, not even loud (relative to his size) shriek, and Sakuyamon, MetalGarurumon, and Ophanimon doubled over in pain and fell to the ground. Zudomon would have caught them if he hadn't been incapacitated as well. The only one not affected by the screech was HerculesKabuterimon, who was the same size.

"Well this should be interesting." HerculesKabuterimon stated. "Our greatest weapon has been indisposed.

"Your voice may be _your_ most effective weapon, but it is not mine." He raised his arm in front of his body, and a cannon then materialized on his arm.

"Uh oh."

"Positron Laser!"

"Electro-Shocker!" HerculesKabuterimon quickly formed a sphere of energy to defend himself, but it wasn't enough. The Positron Laser was too powerful against the monster whose power boost from when he first digivolved and when Eric gave him his heat energy had long faded away. The laser sliced through the orb and crushed HerculesKabuterimon's chest. While he was falling, he de-digivolved into Tentomon, and would have surely been crushed when he landed if a certain green armor covered rabbit had not caught him and set him gently on the ground. Rapidmon then levitated up to Imperialdramon's eye level.

"Now how in Yggdrasil's name did you survive my screech without fainting?" Imperialdramon asked out of curiosity.

"I turned on some sound filters in my ears." Rapidmon tapped his very large ears, "you okay with that?"

"I suppose I could amuse myself with torturing you. Fighting your friends was a lot less difficult than I thought it would be. It was very boring."

"Well I can't promise you I'll be much better," Said Rapidmon, "But I can assure you that I won't pass you if you yell at me."

"Well then, let the fun begin."

"Before we start, can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah sure, knock yourself out."

"Can you follow me down the rabbit hole?"

"What?" Imperialdramon cocked his head in confusion, but Rapidmon soon answered by zig-zagging through the air too fast for Imperialdramon to keep up with him, and then jumped into the mega dragon's mouth. "Aggggggg!" Imperialdramon began choking wildly as the ultimate within his neck began beating the monster's insides wildly. The armored monster tried to push Rapidmon out of its body from the outside of the neck, but his efforts were futile.

"Rpd Fr!" Rapidmon announced in a muffle. Imperialdramon's eyes widened at this. He then desperately began gagging and heaving in a last ditch effort to force the monster out of its neck, but Rapidmon did that for him. When the missile launched, it put so much pressure on the inside of Imperialdramon's neck that Rapidmon was thrown out. Fortunately for Imperialdramon the pressure forced the missile out as well and all that he had to suffer through was a highly inflamed throat.

"Agh! Agh! Agh!" Imperialdramon choked out the last of his (excessive) uncomfort.

"I thought that would be more effective. Crap. Well, at least it was funny. I got the idea from Eric and Kabuterimon, weirdos." Rapidmon panted. Imperialdramon raised his eyes to look at the ultimate and didn't even glare. He just raised his fist and-

"Positron Laser!" The particle beam shot towards Rapidmon faster (if it was possible) than the rabbit could avoid. Rapidmon could only watch as the milliseconds passed by and the beam got closer and closer. Then it occurred to him.

**"Rapidmon digivolve to… MegaGargomon!"** Imperialdramon's eyes widened (even further than they had before) when he saw a blurry green digimon the same size as he deflecting the particle beam.

"How in Yggdrasil's name did you do that!?" Imperialdramon boomed, much to the discomfort of the digimon on the ground level (who had finally started to recover).

"It just occurred to me that it was necessary to digivolve, and since Izzy's and my crest is the crest of knowledge, that's all I really needed." The giant stated as if it were obvious. MegaGargomon was, like Imperialdramon, essentially a giant animal humanoid (a cross between dog and rabbit instead of dragon) that was covered in armor (in MegaGargomon's case green). His feet and most of his legs were covered in green, three clawed armor boots, and his upper legs were covered in a white cloth. A green metal kilt with an eagle-like symbol on it hanging from a belt was strapped to his waist and covered most of his legs that the boots didn't. His arms were covered in huge black Gatling Guns, but now his hands were exposed and in green metal gloves. A green metal chest piece with a yellow smiley face on the part covering the stomach fit his form, and huge cylindrical shoulder pads faced forward (towards the same direction that he was facing) instead of side to side, and they also had yellow smiley faces painted on them. A twin-barreled black jet pack was strapped to the back of his chest plate and and a green spiked helmet covered all of his head but his snout, his eyes, and his ears, the latter of which were covered in green plates at their tips.

"Do you really think this will work for you?" Imperialdramon groaned.

"Let's find out: Mega Barrage!" Dozens of panels simultaneously opened all over MegaGargomon's body (much like MetalGarurumon) and fired a missile from every single one of them. Imperialdramon tried to jump out of the way, but their massive sizes made it virtually impossible for the monster to make a good distance between the two before the missiles bombarded him. Fortunately for Imperialdramon he was able to defend himself very well, and escaped the bombardment relatively unscathed. But much like his battle with BlackRapidmon, MegaGargomon wasn't going to give his opponent the opportunity to recover. "Power Pummel!" He immediately powered the rockets on his back and propelled himself forward so he could land a punch in the dragon's gut. Imperialdramon responded by flapping out of the way with his gust-forming bat wings. MegaGargomon then turned up his jet-pack to full speed and tried for a head butt against his foe. Imperialdramon was ready for him.

"Positron Laser!" Imperialdramon grabbed his laser arm wrist with his other hand to steady himself and blasted short bursts at the flying dog. MegaGargomon swerved difficultly (being at such a large size without the flexibility of being a bug like HerculesKabuterimon made moving a little difficult) to avoid all of the blasts, and then came in for another-

"Power Pummel!" He drove his gargantuan fist into Imperialdramon's face, and this time he succeeded. Imperialdramon was hit point blank by a barrel lined fist and was flipped over. This gave MegaGargomon the perfect opportunity to grab Imperialdramon by the ankles and begin a more effective attack. "Juggernaut Spin!" He began spinning rapidly while Imperialdramon was helplessly dragged along by the ankles. Imperialdramon tried to make himself less aerodynamic by stretching his wings out as far as possible, but by the time he was able to push them past the powerful wind resistance MegaGargomon was going at too high a speed for them to make a difference. Imperialdramon had to struggle not to puke as MegaGargomon began to rotate up the valley and towards a tall, snow capped mountain. "I hope you like hiking!" MegaGargomon joked as he finally released the digimon so that he rocketed right towards the mountain. "Oh, and just in case you don't, I brought you some snacks: Gargo Missile!" The two smiley faces on his shoulder pads, and in fact his shoulder pads themselves, weren't what they appeared to be. Immediately the two faces launched out of the circular tubes they had been resting in to reveal a pair of powerful missiles that blew towards Imperialdramon and collided with him just before he hit the mountain, which caused him to hit it faster and have to deal with pain from both sides.

"Did he just throw Imperialdramon into a mountain and hit him with two nuclear sized missiles at the same time?" MetalGarurumon tiredly asked as Sakuyamon and Ophanimon helped him to his weak and tired legs.

"Yes, I think he did." Sakuyamon replied in awe.

"What's the matter Blondie?" MegaGargomon chuckled. "Are you too tired to come out and play with me?"

"How am I blonde?" Imperialdramon grumbled as he pulled himself out of the indention he had made in the mountain.

"It's the crown. It gives the impression of hair."

"Oh. Should I be insulted by that?"

"No. You should be insulted by this: Mega Barrage!"

"Positron Laser!"

"Gargo Missile!"

"Giga Crusher!"

"Power Pummel!"

"V-Head Butt!"

"Gargo Laser!"

"Spiking Strike!"

Sakuyamon, Ophanimon, MetalGarurumon, Zudomon, and Tentomon watched from a distance (that was safe for their ears) the random battle that was ensuing up the valley. Imperialdramon launched attack after attack at MegaGargomon and vice versa for what could have been hours, and then they breathed heavily and landed on opposite ridges of the valley to stare each other down.

"Why are you so powerful?" Imperialdramon complained. "At least the others had a reason to lose. HerculesKabuterimon got an extra energy boost than normal, WarGreymon and Sakuyamon were already at our level, and the dark needle's influence on Joe was severed before Plesiomon could do any real damage. But you don't have any of those advantages!" The observers did not appreciate this outburst.

"You want to know why?" MegaGargomon smiled. "It's because yours is the crest of prudence, but you can't be prude, or efficient, or anything productive really if you want to digivolve to mega. So even though in reality you should be the most well trained digimon, you can't because you're evil and your crest won't work for you unless you do the opposite of what it wants you to do!"

"That's an interesting theory, but I think I'm going to chalk it up to blind luck: Positron Laser!"

"Gargo Laser!" Both the energy beam and the energy bullets collided with each other and refused to back down. Imperialdramon and MegaGargomon kept that pose for the next few minutes, neither one wanting to give in, even though they were both exhausted. Imperialdramon kept thinking about why Zoe was taking so long to get there with MetalSeadramon, and what Ken was doing about it. MegaGargomon kept thinking that if he could just hold out for a tiny bit longer than Imperialdramon, then he and his friends could escape and go find Agumon, Patamon, Tai, and T.K. Finally something happened that turned the tide of the battle, for better and worse.

"Lord Imperialdramon!" Two voices sounded in a panic as they flew through the air towards him. Both giants gave up the useless stalemate to see who had come. It was BlackWarGrowlmon and Doumon, the last of the Evil Partners. "Lord Imperialdramon, we heard the constant explosions and we thought you might need our help. Not that you can't do it yourself or anything-"

"Shut up and destroy that bastard!" Imperialdramon immediately ordered them. BlackWarGrowlmon and Doumon nodded, and then flew in between the two behemoths to continue the battle.

"Atomic Blaster!" BlackWarGrowlmon yelled to command his two cannons on his shoulder plate to fire.

"Jugonsatsu!" Doumon slipped a tag onto her brush and launched it at MegaGargomon. As he watched the three projectiles coming towards him, he knew he didn't have enough energy left but for one more move, so he decided to make it count.

"Mega Barrage!" Dozens of missile exploded from his body and obliterated, not just the projectiles coming towards him, not just Doumon and BlackWarGrowlmon, not just Imperialdramon (he wasn't obliterated so much as bombarded mercilessly to the point where it was hard for him to stand), but the entire landscape. As Terriermon fell to the ground and the smoke cleared, he could see not only the fading trails of the Evil Partners but that the entire half of the valley they had been fighting in was just barren earth and rock. He was too tired to think about how he would survive the fall, but fortunately he did not have to. Sakuyamon jumped into the sky and caught the little digimon before he had a painful collision with the earth. When she landed, Terriermon could see that Ophanimon, MetalGarurumon, and Zudomon where there as well, and that he was quickly taken out of Sakuyamon's arms by Tentomon and flown to where the digidestined were.

"It's over Imperialdramon," Sakuyamon ordered the giant monster; "You can't win here. We have more energy than you do right now, you'll collapse if you try and fight us any longer. Go back to Ken and tell him that we're not going to stand by idly and let the evil digidestined do any more damage than he's already done. This is no longer a resistance, this is a war."

"We'll, see, what I can, and cannot, do." He raised his arm and supported it with is other hand. "Positron…" He stood there for a second, breathing heavily. "Okay, I can't do it. You win." He dropped his arm and turned to his left. **"Mode change to… Imperialdramon, Dragon mode!" **The three digimon watched in awe as the dragon-warrior transformed himself into a full blown dragon that had the same wings weapons and armor that his previous form had, and then fly off into the sunset.

"Well that was interesting." Ophanimon commented.

"Terriermon!" Izzy cheered as Tentomon brought his partner back to him. Tentomon dropped the tired bunny-dog in the digidestined of knowledge's arms, and Izzy gave him a deep hug.

"I don't think I can take this much pain Izzy," Terriermon wheezed.

"Oh, sorry buddy," He released the poor digimon from his choke hold and allowed the monster to rest on his shoulder. "You did great today. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I didn't know you had it in you."

"I didn't know I had it in me either," Terriermon moaned tiredly as he began to slip off of his partner's shoulder. Izzy had to readjust the exhausted warrior. "It just came to me that I'm a digidestined, I should be able to do something cool." Izzy gave a satisfied laugh at his comment.

"You're just full of surprises aren't you little guy?" Rika smiled and scratched the top of Terriermon's head. "And apparently so are some other people." She gave a quick glance to Joe, but dropped the subject almost immediately.

"You know what I could go for," Terriermon murmured.

"What's that?" Izzy asked the rookie.

"A burger; I haven't had one of those since that feast back at that place where we came from. I wonder if it's inappropriate that I like burgers since I'm a rabbit, and rabbits are supposed to be vegetarians. I guess I'm part dog too so it doesn't matter." Terriermon kept rambling on about this for a while, and eventually it was so low and so incoherent that it didn't bother anybody. Instead, the six awaited the return of the four partner digimon who had just chased off Imperialdramon. Upon their return, MetalGarurumon, Zudomon, and Ophanimon degenerated into Gabumon, Gomamon, and Salamon, but Sakuyamon remained the same.

"Don't you ever get tired like that?" Kari inquired of the constant formed mega.

"Occasionally." She replied. "I'm due for a degeneration in a few months."

"So, what's next?" Izzy asked cheerily. "I vote we take a nap for the next fifty years."

"I still need to get this letter to SaberLeomon." Said Kumbhiramon. "I'd ask for an escort, but I don't think there's anyone for you to escort me from." He said while staring out into the burnt valley.

"To be on the safe side," Rika began, "Someone should go with you to his base. Look at all the trouble you caused last time you went all by yourself." She gave him an apologetic smile.

"Tai and T.K. are still in danger," Eric said to Kari, "We should all go back to the machine territory. Tentomon and I can lead the way."

"T.K.'s in danger!?" Matt yelled.

"That's a good idea." Rika added. "I'll take Kumbhiramon to his base, and you guys can go to the fringes of the machine territory. I'll meet you over there."

"What do you mean T.K.'s in danger!?" Matt lunged towards Eric calmly, but the boy slid out of the way so that Matt just sort of tumbled into the bushes.

"Will you be able to find us?" Kari inquired.

"Just stay on a straight path from here to the city territory," She said, "And make sure to stay on the edge of the territory itself on one of the bridges, and I'll find you. It should only take me a few hours to get Kumbhiramon to SaberLeomon's hideout."

"Good, so we don't have to be separated for long. Izzy, Matt, you guys don't mind travelling with Joe, do you?" Eric gave an innocent smile to the two.

"I promise you, he's a good guy now." Kari cheered. They heard Joe mumble something to himself that was probably self-depreciating, so they ignored it. Matt was still on his rant.

"Answer me Eric!" Matt got in the boy's face and refused to be ignored. "What do you mean T.K.'s in danger?"

"I'm ignoring your rant Matt because it's going to get us nowhere. Right now I promise you that he's safe, but I can't guarantee that he's happy, or even indifferent. In fact he and Tai are probably in some serious discomfort right now-" Matt tried to land a punch on the boy, but Eric immediately grabbed his fist and twisted it around his back so that Matt was indisposed. "That's why I said calm down, you get too emotional and then you start acting like an ass, and nobody likes you when you act like an ass."

"Don't worry Matt; we'll get him back safely." Izzy assured him. "We're almost all together now, and in bigger numbers," He eyeballed Joe, "So he'll be fine." Matt sighed and then released his tension. Eric let him go, and then Matt walked away, but not before shooting his leg backwards and hit Eric where the sun doesn't shine. Eric cried, doubled over in pain, and fell to the ground, prompting a big laugh from Rika.

"I hope you're happy," He said in a high pitched voice, "I don't think I'll ever be able to reproduce. Although that might be a good think, I have a grating personality."

"We should all get going." Matt suggested with a satisfied look on his face.

"Rika, Kumbhiramon, let's go." She grabbed the two passengers by the waist and they were off, over the mountains and towards the mysterious SaberLeomon's place.

"I don't suppose you can fly, can you Tentomon?" Eric winced as he got to his feet.

"About as well as you can walk." Tentomon groaned.

"I can get us to the city territory." Said Gomamon. "I know the way."

"I don't suppose you know where to get us some food and drink do you?" Izzy inquired.

"The water in the city territory is fresh water, and it's kept pretty clean despite all the factories." Joe explained. "We'll have to find some food while we're there though. Except for fish and berries, there's not a lot of food that the evil digidestined- I mean we- haven't harbored."

"You don't have to refer to yourself as evil anymore Joe." Kari patted the boy on the shoulder. "Besides, if you really want to redeem yourself than do what Matt did and stop being such a crybaby all the time."

"Hey!" The blond Japanese boy protested.

"Don't deny something that's true Matt," Izzy laughed a little, "And Kari's right." He walked up to Joe and held his hand out, prompting Joe to shake it. "You're free from the dark needle, which makes everything you've done, not your fault." Joe gave him a confused smile. "You're one of us Joe, and as far as I'm concerned, you always were."

"It's good to have you back ya big lug!" Matt gave the lanky boy a bear hug and caused him to wince.

"We haven't really known you before you turned evil," Gabumon walked up to Gomamon and said, "I hope we can still try to be good friends now that we're allies on the side of good."

"All I really did was swim in my pond and eat berries all day anyway," Gomamon laughed, "I'm sure I won't annoy you too much."

"Are you ready Gomamon?" Joe turned to look at his partner.

"Yep. Let's get this show on the road. **Gomamon, warp digivolve to… Zudomon!" **Joe, Matt, Kari, Eric, Izzy, Terriermon, Tentomon, Salamon, and Gabumon all piled onto Zudomon's enormous shell, and they then set off for the edge of the city territory (which, as they soon found out, did not take long since Zudomon ran very fast for a turtle-walrus). A few hours later Zudomon had released his cargo and were piling onto where the mountain terrain dropped off shortly to the fresh water river that was the city territory and where a huge metal bridge ejected out of the mountain side and raced across the water for miles. They set up camp at the connection (as it was nightfall) and settled in for a well deserved rest, when they began to see a light orange glow and a pillar of smoke farther down the bridge in the distance.

"Well that doesn't look good." Eric commented while pushing himself out of the dirt bed he had made. "You don't think that's where Tai is, do you?"

"That's where the city is where Kazu has his base of operations." Joe unfortunately answered.

"Crap."

"We have to go over there," Said Matt, "If Takeru and Tai are in that fire, they could be seriously hurt or even…"

"But what about Rika?" Asked Izzy. "She's really the only one of us who has a partner with enough strength to do anything in there right now."

"I have enough strength to fight Andromon right now." Salamon proposed.

"And I can help." Gabumon added.

"Um, I don't think you guys understand exactly how powerful Machinedramon is." Joe warned.

"It doesn't matter," Said Eric, "Tai, T.K., and their partners are in the middle of that, and we can't abandon them."

"Let's go." Matt said with determination, and then set to running down the metal walkway. The other digidestined filed after him.


	50. Dystopia

**Chapter Fifty: Dystopia**

**File Island, 100 Years Ago**

The woods were quiet; the only noise was the soft brush of a leaf against a young Tokomon trekking through the woods. The Digimon, a whitish oval shaped monster with stubs for legs, long and jagged ears, and large grinders, was alone and frightened; its only goal was to find its friends. Earlier they had been separated by a loud explosion a few miles away. Tokomon had fled in panic, not thinking about the others. Now it was really worried. They were defenseless in these woods; the Elecmon who was supposed to take care of them ran off to find some food for the group and never returned. His friend Nyaromon said that Elecmon was probably captured by the humans, but Koromon reassured him otherwise.

Just as Tokomon began to gather himself, he heard a branch breaking a few feet to his left. He quickly turned around and saw a sight that horrified him: Guardromon, the large humanoid digimon covered in brown and gold armor that made him seem as if he were combined with a submarine. The large metal Digimon stared down at him evilly, and a thin human at his side with spiky brown hair, kahki pants, and a black t-shirt with a yellow cross layed across it, had a careless look on his face.

"Get him, Guardromon", the human said with a glare. Tokomon tried to flee, but the Guardromon was too fast for him. He quickly snatched the small Digimon with his cold, steel hand and refused to let go. Tokomon struggled violently, but he knew it was hopeless. Guardromon then opened his right fist and revealed a thin, dark needle. It was so short that had Tokomon never seen it before, he might think it was harmless. However he knew the destructive nature of this needle, and what it did to the humans who were struck by it.

A crash suddenly rocked the forest. Guardromon had been knocked to his knees. Suddenly Tokomon was being swept up by some majestic creature, but the stress of the situation was causing the tiny in-training digimon to slowly fade away. "Thank you." Was the only thing he could mutter before passing out from exhaustion. All the while, the wolf-like creature dashed through the forests, his comrade weak in his arms. I need to correct this, he thought to himself. I need to stop this destruction. I need the Digidestined.

He stopped at a small cave behind a waterfall, where earlier in the day he had been confronted and defeated by Chrysalimon. Leopardmon felt humilitated by this defeat, but there was no way for him to do anything about it, as long as he was reduced to his champion strength. It was a miracle that he had been able to retain his form and memories at all thanks to the dark beacon, as every Royal Knight besides he had been reverted to data and sent to Primary Village as a digi-egg. Leopardmon pulled out a false stone panel in the wall while he was thinking these thoughts. He thought about how the councilmen were the first to go: Omega, Saka, Examon, and Paladin. Then how the guardians Craniamon, Veed, Magna, and Gallant had suffered through a slower and more painful degeneration, until they were baby digimon and eventually faded into data. Then the generals Dynas, Crusadermon, and Kentarous had died the same way while trying to restore peace and order to what was left of the world. At that time, all that were left were Scout and himself.

"Makuramon, are you there?" Leopardmon tapped the receiver he had pulled out of the crevice in the rock and was trying to make contact with the fourth plane of the digital world. "Makuramon, answer me!" He stared intently at the old radio, fiddling with the controls and seemingly trying to will it to work. While he did this, he thought back to how when both he and Scout had begun to show the symptoms of being affected by the dark beacon. At that point, Scout had a brave and selfless idea, that Leopardmon could not let him do. They discovered that the dark beacon was getting weaker, that it was fading away. Unfortunately almost all of the digimon in the digital world (with the exception of a few of their old friends such as Babamon) had degenerated to a digi-egg. The situation was quickly deteriorating, and the world was chaos without the leadership of the Royal Knights. One of them had to survive, and Leopardmon was a higher rank than Scout. At first Leopardmon had offered to do it, but then Scout conked him over the head and knocked him unconscious, so that he would be the one to make the sacrifice.

Then, on the fifth plane of the digital world, the grass field surrounded by an endless ocean, where a tall white castle served as the command center for the Royal Knights, Scout locked Leopardmon inside, and destroyed himself, letting his data cover the building in a protective shield. Leopardmon was safely inside, completely protected from the harmful radiation of the dark beacon. When it was gone, when the worst thing to happen to the digital world since the Dark Masters had finally faded away, Leopardmon tried to get up, but he found he couldn't. He had the strength of a rookie, but the body of a mega. Rookies could not lift megas, so he had to find a more inventive way of getting around.

"pffff-Leopard-pfffff-at-pfff-u?" A voice tried to contact the champion leveled knight.

"Makuramon! What took you so long to contact me?" Leopardmon asked in a hurried voice.

"Sign-pfffffffff-up. I can'-pffffff-you-pfffffff-ll."

"Makuramon, did you activate the key?"

"Wha-pffffff"

"The key, did you activiate it!?" he pleaded.

"Of cours-pff-I did, what kind of-pffffffffffffffffff-am?"

"Makuramon, we need the digidestined now! Things are getting a lot worse down-" He watched in horror as the signal went dead, and the static from the line disappeared. "Dammit!"

"Ugh…" The Tokomon he had set on a soft bed of leaves on one of his work benches then began to stir awake.

"Shh…" Leopardmon placed his hand calmly on the Tokomon's forehead, and it went back to sleep. "I didn't mean to wake you young one, rest now." He then turned around and banged on the receiver a little bit, then out of frustration cursed and threw the device across the room. He calmed himself down, and then walked calmly towards the sleeping Tokomon. "Sleep young one, for you will need it. You and your friends are now our only hope."

**The Digital World, One Day Ago**

"Did you see them?" Tai whispered into Patamon's large ear. They, T.K., and Agumon were walking with handcuffs on their wrists while a convoy of Mekanorimon, Tankmon, and one giant Gigadramon led them across one of the many long walkways stretching across the small ocean. Tai was referring to his and T.K.'s digivices, which had been commandeered when they were captured. One of the Tankmon was dragging a wagon full of supplies behind him, and Patamon had purposely slowed down so that he could get a better look at its contents.

"No. One of the Mekanorimon shoved me back here before I could see too far." Patamon groaned and whispered.

"Hey! What have I told you about talking?" The Gigadramon slowly flying directly in front of them grumbled. The ultimate was a terrifying sight even for Patamon and Agumon, who could have easily defeated him in their evolved forms. The monster was basically a massive sky dragon, with only two limbs (his arms) a torso and a head, the rest of his body was a long snake-like appendage. His arms, wings, and belly were completely metal, and his skull was covered in a MetalGreymon-like face plate.

"Sorry." Tai grumbled.

"It doesn't matter anyway," Said one of the Tankmon to their right, "We're here." He nudged to Gigadramon, who complied in moving his tail and letting the two digidestined and their partners see what lie ahead of them. They weren't surprised, but still in awe. The bridge ended a mile away from them, where it connected with a city sized round platform floating (or standing on pillars, for they couldn't see which) in the water. It was city sized for precisely that reason: there was a city filled with skyscrapers and factories resting on it.

"Welcome to your new home." Said Gigadramon.

"Do we get welcoming presents?" T.K. asked half jokingly and half antagonistically.

"Your gift is that I don't smack you into the water with my tail, now move." He patted his enormous appendage against the bridge, and the entire convoy returned to attention and marched down the walkway, until they were inside a huge, grey, dull city block full of buildings and skyscrapers that all looked the same to Tai, T.K., Agumon, and Patamon. There were no digimon around either, and the four of them found that odd. They marched for quite a while longer until they started up a flight of stairs that led to the only thing that was distinguished from the other buildings: a huge castle, surrounded by a golden fence and gate, was decorated in many lavish colors, ranging from all shades of reds and yellows to mixes of colors that the four didn't even know existed. A large silver plaque on the fence said "CASTLE OF MASTERS KAZU AND MACHINEDRAMON". This is where Gigadramon left them. He and most of the Tankmon and Mekanorimon marched off towards some other task they had to do, while two Tankmon stayed behind to (the first one's job) escort the four digidestined inside and (the second one's job) to keep the boy's digivices a safe distance from their owners while delivering them to Kazu. Once the rest of the convoy was gone, the one who had taken Tai and T.K.'s digivices from the wagon opened the gate and rolled inside, well ahead of the escort Tankmon, who waited until the other monster was actually inside the castle before taking his cargo in.

"I had no idea Kazu was so flamboyant." Tai said condescendingly. "Does he always paint his rooms like this?" When they got inside, they saw that it was also an abstract mingle of walls, celings, floors, and beams that snaked around the castle to only Yggdrasil knew where. It was painted all sorts of colors as well.

"Masters Yolei and Puppetmon did this," Tankmon explained, "Kazu was the only one who didn't care about what his castle looked like, and the immature one thought that his place could use a little color.

"I'm guessing he wasn't too happy when he saw what Puppetmon had done." Tai surpressed a chuckle.

"The master did not care." Tankmon said simply.

"Oh…" Tai dropped his condescending expression. "Well that just takes the fun out of everything doesn't it?" he said mostly to himself.

"Keep walking." Tankmon grumbled with more irritation this time.

"Yeah yeah I'm going." The four prisoners and their guard walked through the twisting corridors for a few minutes (Tai and T.K. were sure that Tankmon got lost a few times) and finally arrived at a grand door laden with golden framing that rose high above the two children's heads. Tankmon rolled to the door and knocked loudly with a gavel sitting near the floor. He heard a muffled voice within say something that Tai and T.K. thought was incoherent, but was apparently enough for Tankmon, because he then pushed the door open just enough so that he could fit inside (he was much wider than the children and they would easily have fit in his path.

"After you." He waved his hand to the door in a condescending manner, inditacting that the two children and their digimon partners were about to meet Kazu for the first time in… four days, give or take. They walked in with their heads held high and immediately sank them as close to the ground as possible when they saw Machinedramon.

"My master," Tankmon bowed to the human man-child sitting on an ordinary chair across the even more ordinary room. It was certainly tall, but there were just four walls, a ceiling, a floor, and Kazu's chair, nothing special. Except for Machinedramon. He wasn't the biggest digimon they had ever seen. Whamon easily dwarfed Kazu's metal partner. But he was fifty feet tall, which was menacing enough. He was basically a lizard, on his two hind legs, his front legs actually arms, and a ruthless toothy grin. Oh yeah, and he was made completely out of metal. His feet, legs, and chest were a simple but effective machine engine, his solid metal tail provided the digimon balance, one arm was a claw not unlike MetalGreymon's, with three metal claws protruding from a metal base, and the other hand was like Gigadramon's in that it was a solid gray triangular prism with three flexible claws on it. There were also two cannons on his back bigger than he was, and his skull was all one solid piece of metal. Suffice it to say, Machinedramon just looked like he was pure evil.

"Number 341 arrived here five minutes ago," Kazu barked at the Tankmon who was presenting his catch. "What took you so long 75?"

"Forgive me sir, but the changes Miss Inoue has made to your caste are most confusing to me. I have had trouble finding my way."

"I'm sure; leave us." He waved his arm, and the Tankmon pulled towards the door.

"What do you think he's going to do to us?" T.K. asked while leaning towards T.K. so he could lower his voice.

"Tai Kamiya, Agumon, Takeru Ishida, Patamon," Kazu addressed their names before telling them what their punishment would be.

"I guess we're about to find out." Tai murmured while Kazu was speaking.

"You are all enemies of the state," Said Kazu, "And as such you are not to be trusted with any valuable production that is done here, in case you were to attempt to sabotage us."

"I don't like where this is going." Agumon whined a little.

"Therefore you will hereby be sentenced to work in the factories that process and ration the food we give to our subjects, so that you may be deterred from committing traitorous acts against a group you've tried so hard to help."

"Well that doesn't sound so bad," Patamon murmured, "Maybe it'll be like working in a kitchen."

"Let's go maggots!" Kazu had waved Tankmon over, and he was now ordering them to march out of the building. They were marched out of the castle, through the gate, and down the road a ways until they reached a large building that looked to be some sort of warehouse. Tankmon knocked the door open and pushed the four destined inside.

"The Mamemon will tell you what to do," Said Tankmon before he closed the door. "Don't try anything stupid." Then he was gone.

"Does he really expect that we won't do anything stupid?" T.K. asked defiantly.

"He's just trying to do his job." Said Tai, to the other's surprise. "He's under constant threat of being destroyed by Kazu if he doesn't do what he is told to a t."

"Oh, right." T.K. had a slightly shameful look on his face.

"That Tankmon and the others like him are the same digimon we have to save, even if they don't deserve it."

"I don't believe it," A voice sounded in front of them. They all looked forward in the hallway (which was empty, except for a door at the end 30 feet away) to see a small, metal ball with a face and proportional armored arms and legs. "They actually caught the digidestined." He said with a hint of sadness in his voice. "I'm sorry."

"They won't have us for long." T.K. said cheerily. "Our friends will find us soon."

"I certainly hope that's true." The Mamemon sighed. "Come, we musn't bee seen talking casually, or they'll behead us for sure." He opened the door (the knob of which was lower to the ground than most) and walked into the rest of the factory. Tai, T.K., Agumon, and Patamon followed him into the factory, which was too complex to describe. The only thing that the four could completely identify were conveyor belts moving slowly, all of them with boxes of food (which said very simple things such as BEEF, JUICE, and FRUIT, in red, yellow, or orange boxes with a simple picture of the food on them. Besides the castle that Kazu and Machinedramon inhabited, this was the most color they had seen in the city besides black or grey. "You will collect the boxes of food on the conveyor belt and package them in these (he picked up a simple wooden crate) then once one is full you will pass it to your partner, who will nail it up and bring it to the wagons. You will repeat this process until the bell rings, then you will stop, follow the others to your cot, eat the food and drink that has been laid out for you, go to sleep, wake up, eat the food that has been laid out for you, and start the process again."

"What about lunch?" Patamon inquired.

"What's lunch?" Mamemon asked.

"Uh, nevermind."

"Tai and T.K., you two will be partners and work at station 23. Agumon and Patamon, you will work at station four." Mamemon spoke, and then walked off to do whatever his job was. The four were confused as to why Mamemon left them to find their jobs themselves, but soon realized that they were being watched by a force of Mekanorimon within the factory. They unwillingly parted ways (they couldn't say anything, but knew that the other group would find a way to get out of this mess) and started off towards different directions of the conveyor belt. Agumon and Patamon's "station" was two white lines marking off a part of the floor in front of the conveyor belt with a bunch of empty crates, some nails, and a hammer piled next to a door some ways behind it, which the digimon assumed was where Agumon (they decided he would be better at nailing things in) would take the crates down to the wagons. Tai and T.K. found the same things Agumon and Patamon did at their station, which included each of the stations next to them (and next to those the same thing throughout the entire length of the belt) two digimon working on collecting boxes of food and drink and taking them down the hallway.

The belt (which was only five feet wide) was filled with food, making the collector's job easy. All they had to do was grab a box or two and leave the rest of it to the digimon farther down the line. The box carriers had the toughest job, because they had to nail up the wooden crates and run them down to the wagon station (which was just a loading dock where the boxes were placed down on the floor for someone else to handle) and come back before the loader filled another box. Needless to say, the monsters worked for hours to the point where T.K. and Patamon were just annoyed about having to do this, but Tai and Agumon were exhausted.

"I don't think I can take this anymore…" Agumon gasped while falling to the floor in front of another box that Patamon had almost filled. "When does that freakin' bell ring?"

"The next shift change is in three hours," The loader across the conveyor belt from them stated. "After that we have twelve hours to eat our meals and then sleep, I'm sure you heard the rest. Patamon and Agumon looked up to see who had said that. A cylindrical metal digimon with computer components inside of his domed clear head and cord like arms and legs (with metallic hands and feet obviously) as well as a face on his metallic body replied.

"Datamon! You're alive!" Patamon cheered.

"Yes, I'm a Datamon, and I'm alive, what's so special about that?" He inquired.

"It's probably not the same one," Agumon said somberly to his excited friend, "If he were, he would have remembered us." (Agumon was referring to the fact that all digimon knew, which was until they reached the level in which they had previously died at, if a digimon was destroyed they would not remember anything about their past lives). "Thank's for telling us that information my friend." He nodded to the monster, who was giving them a curious look. Agumon then picked up the box that Patamon had filled and began work on hammering in the box (he groaned while doing this).

"Sorry for bursting out like that." Patamon scratched his head. He looked up at the monster to see that it was now wide eyed and staring directly at him.

"You're… partnered… with… T.K…?" He spoke slowly.

"It is you!" Patamon squeeled after gasping with happiness.

"Shh!" Datamon urged while surpressing a smile. "The Mekanorimon," He indicated with his eyes to the line of monsters arranged behind them.

"How did you get here?" Patamon whispered while he continued to work, albeit slower than before.

"I hatched from my digi-egg about 75 years ago, when Spiral Mountain wasn't very old. I joined up with one of the resistance forces, but about five years ago I was captured and brought here to work in this factory."

"Looks like they do that with everyone they meet." Patamon murmured.

"No. Machinedramon kills the megas." Patamon gulped at this. "What happened to you?" He then changed the subject. "I heard you defeated VenomMyotismon 100 years ago and then just disappeared."

"Koichi and Keramon kidnapped Kari and slipped into one of the data streams with her." Patamon explained. "We followed him, and he escaped to the internet."

"What's the internet?"

"I don't really know, but it is part of the human world, and we were there for 16 and a half hours fighting Diaboromon (that's Keramon's mega form) and then getting some sleep while waiting for another gate to open to the digital world. It didn't occur to us until we got back and the entire digital world was Spiral Mountain that since the internet was part of the human world that we would be gone for a lot longer than just 16 hours."

"So, to you it's only been-"

"Four days, give or take."

"Oh, Yggdrasil."


	51. Aristocracy

**Chapter Fifty One: Aristocracy**

"Why haven't you tried to escape?" Patamon inquired of his old (though not long) friend.

"There's no point. There are only Mekanorimon on this floor, but the upper floors are full of Monzaemon."

"But you can, right?" Patamon had a knowing smile on his face.

"I've gained a lot of respect with the digimon on this floor of the factory (we don't really mingle with other digimon), so I could start one, but there would be no point. If it got out of hand, Gigadramon or Machinedramon would come down here and "deal with it." And to answer your next, question, Gigadramon is Machinedramon's right hand man. He's stronger than all of the evil digidestined's army."

"It won't matter," Patamon smiled, "I can digivolve to ultimate (Datamon gave a smile at this), and Agumon-"

"Hey, are you talking?" One of the Mekanorimon growled behind Patamon.

"Uh, no sir!" Patamon waved deceptively. The Mekanorimon mumbled something and then turned away for a second. "Do you trust me?" Patamon then whispered (it was shorter than "Agumon can digivolve to mega). Datamon quietly nodded. "Then when Agumon gets back, start a riot." Datamon nodded again, and the two got to work with the packaging of food. Once Agumon came running back in and started nailing down another box, Datamon whispered something into the two digimon at his side's ears and smiled at the digimon across the aisle from him. Patamon then turned around and put his paw on the box that Agumon was about to pick up and stopped him.

"What are you doing?" Agumon hissed.

"Just give it a minute." Patamon gave a knowing smile.

"Hey, why have you stopped working?" the same Mekanorimon as before yelled at him and walked up to the two monsters.

"Yeah, uh, I had a question." Said Patamon to the creature, who was glaring at him questioningly. "Why do we have to do this? Don't you have machines to do this work anyway? It seems like a waste of good labor-"

"Get back to work." Mekanorimon stated angrily, and then Mamemon hit him upside the head and knocked him out.

"I hope you know what you're doing." He said worriedly, and then joined the rest of the digimon in assaulting the Mekanorimon guards. Meanwhile, Datamon jumped over the conveyor belt and grabbed the two monster's hands.

"We'd better go find Tai and T.K." He said with determination, and then began running up the conveyor belt (their numbers were four and three, so it would have been obvious if they were one or two to Datamon). "What number are they?"

"23!" Patamon said quickly. The three then jumped back over the conveyor belt towards work station 23. It didn't take them long to arrive at the station, where Tai and T.K. were ducking low to avoid the brawl. T.K. saw their partners first, and called out to them.

"Patamon, Agumon!" He cheered. "What's going on here-" He stopped and gasped when he saw Datamon with them. "No…" He punched Tai in the thigh to get his attention as the three digimon arrived. Tai gasped even louder (though it was hard to tell in the ruckus of the fighting) when he saw their old friend who had (unfortunately) led to Tai and Agumon's dark digivolution.

"Datamon!" Tai lunged at the monster and pulled him in a tight hug. He pulled away when Datamon began to gasp and set him down. "I can't believe you're here." He said loudly.

"I hate to break up the reunion but we'd better get out of here." Said Agumon. "Where's the door?" He turned to Datamon.

"This way." He directed the four, and they all piled towards the doorway. Once they were out into the open street, Datamon had a confession to make. "I haven't been outside of that factory in five years. I don't know where to go."

"I got a pretty good understanding of how we got here," Said Tai, "I'll lead the way." The five then ran down the street (which was unoccupied of course) towards where they hoped that Kazu's colorful citadel was. They had to duck into a few alleys when a random guard would pass by, but soon found themselves in a big square where they could see the castle only a few streets over. They began to sprint down the sidewalk when they were interrupted by-"

"Dark Side Attack!" Gigadramon flew into the courtyard and fired a missile from the open panel in his palm. It spiraled towards the five rebels and they had to jump away to avoid it. The missile flew into a building and exploded, shattering floors, windows, and walls, but fortunately not damaging the foundation. A fire from the explosion incinerated the insides of the building, and fortunately the digidestined could see that it was just an empty office building (why it was there they never learned).

"I'll take this one." Tai announced with confidence. "Well, Agumon will."

"Datamon said that Gigadramon was the strongest digimon in the evil digidestined's army." Patamon whined. Tai and Agumon looked to their old friend, and he nodded.

"Fine then. What do you think Agumon?"

"Well he's probably too strong for MetalGreymon, but I don't want to use up all of my energy fighting him when we have Machinedramon right around the corner." Said the yellow reptile.

"Then we're going dark?"

"Mm, hm." Agumon nodded. **"Agumon, warp digivolve to… SkullGreymon!"** Datamon's jaw dropped when he saw the massive bone dragon rise into the courtyard.

"Raw!!!" Gigadramon bellowed at the dragon and came at him angrily. SkullGreymon jumped to the side so that Gigadramon had to turn around and head for another side of the square that the smaller (and less durable) humans and digimon were on. "Dark Side Attack!" SkullGreymon dodged again, and this time when the missile fired into the building it hit the support beams and collapsed it. The massive concrete structure came tumbling down towards Gigadramon, and he didn't have the time or durability to move out of the way, so he stopped it with his arms and threw it backwards into another building when SkullGreymon spun around and slashed Gigadramon's belly with the back of his claws, severing the monster into four pieces (some of them smaller than others). It faded into data before hitting the ground, and SkullGreymon casually walked back to the group and degenerated into Agumon.

"If that's the worse that the evil digidestined can throw at us, then I don't think we'll have a problem." He smiled.

"Let's not get too cocky," Said T.K.," We should keep moving." The five of them then set off for the castle (which they knew its location by now) and snuck around the back (which was easy, as all the guards had rushed to the square where SkullGreymon and Gigadramon had fought, or where one massacred the other, and Datamon, Tai, Agumon, T.K., and Patamon had taken the back way there) to where they could climb over the gate and sneek (Agumon picked the lock) into the back door. Then they had another problem: how to navigate through the complex and abstract hallways of Kazu's castle. They were in a big ballroom type area right now, but there were plenty of doors to and from places. Fortunately it wasn't a problem for long because Patamon had a solution.

"There's no way for us to find Machinedramon in this place by ourselves, so Agumon will have to face him head on." The others nodded at this, except for Datamon who looked confused and mortified. "We'll make our precense known here, and I'll take out the guards who come in first, so that Kazu and his partner will have no choice but to welcome us himself."

"I think you're forgetting something T.K." Tai began, "We don't have our digivices; Kazu does." Then his face dropped. "Are we really that stupid?" He muttered. Apparently, somehow, amidst all the struggle and fighting, Tai and T.K. had forgotten that they didn't have their digivices or crests.

"How the hell did I digivolve?" Agumon whined. A voice in the ballroom then began to clap. The five boys turned to see that, blended into the colorful room were four figures, two human and two digimon.

"I can't believe you actually did all of that without realizing that you didn't even have your digivices!" Yolei cackled. Behind her, Puppetmon let out a small chuckle, while Kazu and Hagurumon just stood there with blank expressions on their faces. "I thought for sure you'd see Agumon digivolve and flip out about how he did that! I guess I overestimated your intelligence. Ha!"

"Why would you let us get here on purpose?" Tai asked worriedly.

"Because," Kazu said emotionlessly before sliding a brown sack towards them, "Yolei has found it fit that we destroy you the old fashioned way, instead of simply catching and enslaving you. I don't know why; my way's more efficient, but she's my superior so I'll comply."

"What's with the 'tude Kazu? I thought you were "no emotion" boy. And they're not slaves, they're prisoners of war, how many times do I have to tell you people that, god." Datamon then cautiously walked up to the bag and removed its contents: two digivices and two crests.

"So you're really going to fight us one on one?" Tai asked suspiciously.

"No," She said before the two walked towards the door (which was blended in with the walls and the five observers didn't even notice before she revealed it) and opened it, "Kazu is; he'll be more than enough." She then walked out of the room and closed the door.

"We're starting now." Kazu said quickly, and the two hero digidestined were quick to snatch up their digivices.

**"Hagurumon, warp digivolve to…"**

"I'll distract him while you guys get out of here," Datamon whispered. "We can't risk losing you."

"No Datamon," Said Tai, "You've already died protecting us once, and I won't let that happen again. Now it's our turn to protect you."

"But-" Two bright lights cut him off.

**"Machinedramon!"**

**"Patamon, warp digivolve to… MagnaAngemon!"**

**"Agumon, warp digivolve to… WarGreymon!"**

Datamon fainted when he saw WarGreymon. Yes, he fainted.

"This isn't going to be a repeat of our last battles." Kazu stated. "Machinedramon has absorbed thousands of mega digi-cores, and he was the first digimon of our group to reach mega outside of Keramon. You will not win."

"We shall see." WarGreymon said antagonistically. "Terra-Force!"

"Giga Cannons." Machinedramon said in an emotionless, psychotic voice, prompting the cannons on his back to fire energy blasts at the sphere of flame tearing through the air towards him. Both attacks collided, but Machinedramon in all his efficiency glory had already ran towards WarGreymon and threw his fist towards him. WarGreymon, instead of bracing himself, let Machinedramon's curled claws hit him, but then latched onto them and hung on so that when Machinedramon pulled his arm back WarGreymon was in an attacking position. MagnaAngemon helped the digimon get into an even more secure position by distracting the soulless mega.

"Gate of Destiny." He zoomed over the monster and formed a golden gate out of thin air. Unfortunately, Machinedramon completely expected the plan and punched upwards with the fist that WarGreymon thought he had secretly latched to. His attack immediately knocked WarGreymon into the gate and swatted MagnaAngemon away so he could not prevent WarGreymon being thrown into the white abyss, and then let the angel watch helplessly as it closed and vaporized with WarGreymon still inside. "Uh-oh." Machinedramon then aimed his Gigadramon-like fist at MagnaAngemon and punched right for him with precision speed. MagnaAngemon barely dodged and was met with a strike from Machinedramon's curled claws.

"WarGreymon…" Tai muttered in a stunned voice.

"Don't worry Tai!" MagnaAngemon said quickly while dodging two more punches in the air. He then had to drop to the ground to catch his breath, but was instead met with Machinedramon's rapid claws flying down towards him and embedding themselves into the floor where he once stood before jumping away, and then Machinedramon pulling out as if it had never happened. "I can fix this. I just have to re-create the gate of destin-" The Giga fist banged into MagnaAngemon's jaw and knocked him across the room.

"Giga Cannons." Machinedramon fired his two energy bombs at MagnaAngemon this time, and the monster was too stunned to move. Fortunately, Datamon shot cords out of his fingers that wrapped around the arch-angel and pulled him out of harm's way just in time. MagnaAngemon then snapped out of his daze and jumped to his feet.

"This might be harder than I thought." MagnaAngemon murmured.

"I've got him!" Datamon called and then shot his cables around Machinedramon's larger body, trying to pull him to the ground. He couldn't say it but MagnaAngemon knew that Datamon was trying to give him time to create the gate of destiny. Unfortunately Machinedramon saw right through the plan and yanked the other way, throwing Datamon helplessly into the air.

"Giga-" Machinedramon started. MaganAngemon stopped himself mid-gate and jumped towards Datamon, catching him before the "Cannons." (Tai and T.K. had moved themselves behind a pillar much farther away during this whole ordeal) obliterated the wall behind him. Once they landed, Datamon had an idea.

"Throw me at him." Datamon whispered.

"What-?" MagnaAngemon began.

"Just do it." He urged. MagnaAngemon groaned and then threw the small ultimate at the evil eyes of Machinedramon (MagnaAngemon had inadvertently thrown Datamon towards Machinedramon's head). "Take this you ugly son-of-a-!" Machinedramon opened his mouth, lunged forward, and swallowed him. MagnaAngemon wasn't paying attention, however, and couldn't be shocked by this occurrence.

"Gate of Destiny!" The golden disc materialized in the air and before Machinedramon could do anything about it WarGreymon blasted out of the whole (the gate disintegrated a second later) and lunged at Machinedramon, stabbing him with his clawed gauntlet before the monster could react. When he was stabbed, however, Machinedramon did react. He threw up Datamon.

"How in Yggdrasil's name did you get in there?" MagnaAngemon cocked his head.

"I have no idea…" Datamon groaned comedically. "But I went into the belly of the beast and I survived."

"Ha ha." MagnaAngemon replied sarcastically. He then picked up his (surprisingly clean) friend by the arm and dragged him over to Tai and T.K., who were very disturbed by the whole ordeal as well. MagnaAngemon then turned his attention back to Machinedramon, who was still paralyzed by the WarGreymon's claws in his gut.

"Let's not do the "gate of destiny" thing again, okay?" WarGreymon grumbled.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Said MagnaAngemon as he rose into the air with his energy sword activated."Soul Banish!" He launched his sword from its gauntlet right towards Machinedramon's skull, bent on parting the monster with his soul (temporarily, and if he had any). Unforunately Machinedramon had again expected this and wasn't really paralyzed, but just waiting for MagnaAngemon to launch an attack at him so that he could scoop up a surprised WarGreymon with his hand and throw him into the air as he jumped away, so that WarGreymon was in the line of fire of the soul-taking blade.

"Ayah!" WarGreymon gasped. Fortunately MagnaAngemon had the ability (and used it of course) to pull the blade back to his gauntlet before it collided with WarGreymon. Unfortunately Machinedramon was higher in the air than WarGreymon and proceeded to land on the monster and drive him into the ground painfully when it was over.

"Oh!" Tai gasped while watching his partner digivolve into a pancake. While T.K. was watching the event, a thought occurred to him.

"Do you see Kazu?" Asked T.K. to Tai.

"Why's that important?" Tai inquired while struggling to look away from the battlefield.

"Because right now, MagnaAngemon is our last _hope_."

***

"Agh!" MagnaAngemon spun away from Machinedramon's claws yet again. For the last 20 minutes, he had (at first, dragged WarGreymon's unconscious body to safety, and then had) been dodging Machinedramon's array of attacks tiredly. The battle was going nowhere, except that they were both (seemingly) getting more and more tired out. If MagnaAngemon didn't find a solution soon, then one of them would soon collapse from the intense physical labor, and Angemon did not want it to be him.

"C'mon MagnaAngemon," T.K. whispered to himself while watching the battle from behind the battle only 10 feet away from Kazu. "Do something hopeful."

"Giga Cannons." Machinedramon fired yet another blast at MagnaAngemon which he had successfully dodged, letting it blow another hole through the walls, which were beginning to look more like Swiss cheese than a support system.

"Are you not tired yet?" MagnaAngemon complained as Machinedramon shoved another claw attack at him, which he again successfully dodged.

"I do not get tired so soon," Said Machinedramon in a monotone voice, "I run on batteries." This thought had not occurred to MagnaAngemon, who let out an exhausted sigh before dodging another- "Giga Cannons."

"But you are right." Machinedramon said to MagnaAngemon's surprise. "This is getting redundant." He then threw one more punch at MagnaAngemon to get him to dodge and turned around while the monster was in mid movement and jumped towards the lifeless body of WarGreymon.

"No!" MagnaAngemon bounced off of the wall and headed towards Machinedramon with his sword drawn. Unfortunately for MagnaAngemon he was too far away, and Machinedramon arrived at the monster's body, like planned, to deliver a finishing blow. Unfortunately for Machinedramon, WarGreymon was not as lifeless as he would have liked.

"Terra Force!" WarGreymon quickly formed an energy sphere in his arms and fired it at Machinedramon, who was too surprised to dodge or block. He took the full brunt of the attack (which was not as powerful as it could have been due to WarGreymon's tired state) and was knocked off of his feet, into the air, and then onto the ground with an earth shattering thud. "Is that all you got?" WarGreymon groaned while hovering up to MagnaAngemon's level. They both flew over him while breathing heavily, for they had little energy left.

"You think he's done?" MagnaAngemon inquired.

"Giga Cannons!" Machinedramon flew to his feet (at a speed that was not possible for his size) and fired the blasts at point blank range into WarGreymon's body, throwing the digimon into the wall far behind him. It also forced Machinedramon across the floor and back a few dozen feet. "Don't you see that it is futile to continue fighting me?" Machinedramon inquired in the same emotionless, no lack or excess of energy voice. "It is useless, give up now."

"Then I guess I'll just have to do something less useless: Excalibur!" The purple sword on his gauntlet popped out and he began racing towards Machinedramon.

"My digivice!" T.K. cheered at the light, and then began running behind Kazu, who was not paying attention to the space to his rear.

"Giga-!" Machinedramon began his attack, but MagnaAngemon had a newfound strength, and arrived at Machinedramon before the latter could blast at him. MagnaAngemon then did something that no one expected- he flew into Machinedramon's forehead and drove his sword right into Machinedramon's skull. The monster froze. Had he had eyes, they would have rolled into the back of his head. Then a burst of light shot out of T.K.'s digivice and careened right through the back of Kazu's stomach (to which he let out the first scream and emotion that the hero tamers had ever heard) and towards MagnaAngemon.

Every time one of the digidestined partners had digivolved, they had always been successful. Devimon, Devimon again as Val, Woodmon, Seadramon, Chrysalimon, their evolved forms, every single one of them had come so close to stopping the digidestined partners from evolving, and every time they had failed. Even Machinedramon had had his misses. On their first day on File Island, Koromon and Motimon had evolved to Agumon and Tentomon right in front of (as Guardromon) his eyes. They had only evolved from in-training to rookie, so it wasn't a big deal then. When Gargomon and Kyubimon had digivolved to Rapidmon and Taomon, he (as Andromon) didn't have time to go after both of them, and as such was torn and accidentally allowed both of them to evolve to mega. But now, there was only one target. Now, there was no element of surprise of their part. But there was element of surprise on his part. For when he was stabbed, his system was momentarily shut off, but it was turned on a second later, just in time for him to see MagnaAngemon attached to his skull and an evolution light racing right towards the monster. So Machinedramon did the only thing he knew he could do. He threw his head down and headbutted the floor, with MagnaAngemon still attached. The angel's body was crushed, he degenerated to Patamon (and as a result fell off of Machinedramon's head) and the evolution energy dissipated into thin air.

"No! Patamon!" T.K. squealed while running to his partner. His partner may have been right in front of Machinedramon, but he didn't care. And for that matter, neither did Machinedramon. His partner was lying on the ground with a pile of dark needles pouring out of his stomach (which had also ripped out of the steel grey robe he was wearing). Both David and Goliath passed each other on their way to comfort their partners.

"Kazu, are you alright?" Machinedramon asked with a hint of worry.

"I'm fine, stop them." Kazu groaned.

"Patamon, speak to me!" T.K commanded his small angel-bird partner.

"I'm sorry T.K.," Patamon sputtered, "I couldn't do it. I couldn't digivolve."

"No, don't say that! It's not your fault!" Over T.K.'s yell, nobody noticed the wall crumbling to their side. Most thought it was just the wall finally giving in to the abuse Machinedramon had put it through.

"Infinity Hand!" Machinedramon bellowed, and aimed his Giga hand right at T.K. and Patamon, who were too stunned to move.

"I don't think so!" Another metal dinosaur caught his hand and threw it upwards (for Machinedramon was too surprised to resist).

"Zandenken!" A flaming electrical sword slashed at Machinedramon's wrist and sent a jolt of pain throughout Machinedramon's entire arm.

"Pepper Breath!" Although it was only a rookie attack, Machinedramon was so shocked that it might as well have been a Terra Force, for it hit his wrist and knocked him temporarily out cold.


	52. Utopia

**Chapter Fifty Two: Utopia**

"What the-!" T.K. stared up in awe as he saw the three digimon who had come to his aid gather in front of him.

"Are you alright Takeru?" MetalTyrannomon asked caringly while setting his paw on the floor to let the boy and his wounded partner climb upon it.

"When we saw Machinedramon right on you like that, we thought it was too late." Tekkamon added with a little worry.

"But I guess you guys have really tired him out, haven't you?" Agumon Hakase smiled. "He was knocked out by my Pepper Breath, imagine that!" The three then escorted T.K. and Patamon over to Tai, Agumon (who had degenerated in the last few minutes) and Datamon, the latter two of which Tai was comforting as much as he could until they got back to full health.

"Where did you come from?" Tai gasped in a mock offended voice.

"When we saw the ocean territory collapse," Tekkamon began, "We realized that you had actually defeated Zoe, but we never expected you would do it and forgot to tell you about the collapse-destruct button."

"Well I'm glad you had so much faith in us." Agumon grumbled.

"We're very sorry," MetalTyrannomon let out a nervous chuckle, "But then we realized that if you survived you would be completely lost in the other territories, because Whamon couldn't guide you through them or get you back to our camp. So we decided to go look for you."

"We sent one group of digimon over to the ice territory," Tekkamon explained, "While we took an Airdramon (MetalTyrannomon added "three, actually") to the forest territory to see if we could find you, but by the time we got there it had started to collapse too."

"So we came over here and they figured that you would most likely be in Kazu's central city, so we flew over here, saw the riot outside, and figured you must be dealing with Kazu and, what was it, oh yeah; Machinedramon, so we flew over here and what do we see but a castle about ready to collapse. I'm sure you can figure out the rest for yourselves." Hakase gave a lengthy explanation.

"If the forest territory collapsed, then that means Eric and Kari must have defeated Yolei and Cherrymon!" T.K. cheered.

"Then that also means they're probably on the city territory now, looking for us like you guys- wait, what riot?" Tai suddenly realized what they had said.

"Didn't you notice?" MetalTyrannomon asked. "It's pandemonium outside. Digimon from all over this city are attacking the guards and marching towards this castle. I don't know how successful they'll be though. The guards look like they're getting ready to counter attack."

"Way to go Datamon." Tai murmured to himself.

"Then we'd better go help them." T.K. said with determination.

"T.K., I think you're forgetting something." Tai tapped the younger boy's shoulder and pointed over to Machinedramon, who was finally stirring awake.

"Don't worry; we'll take care of him." Tekkamon said with confidence. "You guys rest and get your energy back."

"Do you think you guys are strong enough?" Tai asked worriedly.

"It looks like you really weakened him while you were fighting him, don't worry." MetalTyrranomon slammed his right fist into his left palm. "Let's move boys." He said with a rough voice, and then turned around to confront Machinedramon with the others. To all their surprise, he was standing on both feet already with a horrid expression of anger on his face (and a gaping hole in his forehead, which for some reason still was not killing him or at the very least degenerating him).

"This might be harder than we thought." Tekkamon commented.

"Giga Cannons!" He fired the deadly blasts straight towards the group of allies (Tai, T.K., Patamon, Agumon, and Datamon had moved once again to behind a far pillar) and forced them to jump out of the way to avoid being obliterated like what was left of the wall behind them. Hakase had actually dodged to the vicinity of the hiding digidestined, and Tai took advantage of that.

"Hakase!" Tai hissed to the monster, who was preparing to circle the giant machine and attack from behind, but instead turned to Tai with a rushed look on his face. "Machinedramon used to be really calm and focused, but now he's yelling out attacks. You can use that to your advantage."

"Thanks." He nodded quickly, and then leaped away while Tekkamon and MetalTyrannomon were distracting the monster into destroying what was left of the back wall of the ballroom.

"Giga Destroyer II!" MetalTyrannomon raised his open palm and fired a blast of energy at Machinedramon, who let the attack hit his shoulder and then wash away as if it never happened.

"Zandenken!" Tekkamon attempted to slash at Machinedramon with his electric-fire sword, but this time Machinedramon was ready for it and punched Tekkamon into a pillar before his attack could be successful. Fortunately, Machinedramon and Tekkamon had succeeded in distracting Machinedramon long enough for Hakase to sneak up the monster's back seemingly unnoticed and position himself on the back of the mega's head, where he could fire a Pepper Breath into the hole MagnaAngemon had made while fighting him. Unfortunately, Kazu had seen him do it.

"Machinedramon, on your head!" Kazu screamed while trying to gather the dark needle wires back under his robe. The giant then immediately noticed the thing on the back of his head and swatted it away so that it crashed into the same pillar as Tekkamon.

"They're not going to make it," Patamon said somberly.

"Don't say that," T.K. opposed his partner's statement, "They'll get through this; you just wait."

"It's true T.K." Patamon said weakly. "Even though Machinedramon is weaker, and he's out of focus, he's still thousands of times stronger than all of them. There's no hope of defeating him, unless I do something."

"I'm not going to let you go and fight him, especially not in your condition." T.K. growled.

"I'm not going to T.K." He said with more strength. "I just need you to promise not to call out to me or try to run towards and save me, no matter what happen happens."

"What are you talking about, and why would I promise something like that?" T.K. looked a little offended.

"T.K. please, I need you to promise me that." He gave his partner an intense look that signified that Patamon knew what he was talking about.

"Okay, I promise." T.K. finally conceded.

"Thanks." Patamon then began to glow, and a second later Tokomon was sitting in his partner's arms.

"You're going to defeat Machinedramon as Tokomon?" T.K. cocked his head.

"You bet I am." He nodded, and then with new found energy (it took up less energy to move as an in-training than as a rookie, even if it wasn't much of a difference) began to run in a circle around to Kazu, bent on finishing off Machinedramon without ever laying another finger on him.

"Giga Cannons!"

"Giga Destroyer II!" Both attacks collided in mid-air with no clear victor except for the fact that the blast was closer to MetalTyrranomon.

Tokomon had positioned himself behind a pillar only seven feet from Kazu, who was struggling to keep his needle wires from being exposed. All Tokomon had to do was wait for the right moment.

"Zandenken!" Tekkamon sliced at Machinedramon. Machinedramon swatted him away.

Tokomon thought back to that first day when all of his adventures truly began. He thought back to when he confronted his first evil digidestined and partner, Kazu and Guardromon, and survived.

"Pepper Breath!" Hakase tried to aim for the hole on top of Machinedramon's head while hanging from halfway up a pillar, but Machinedramon flicked his neck up and let the now harmless attack bounce against his metal flesh.

He hadn't actually defeated Guardromon, by no means was that true. Tokomon had been saved by a mysterious blur, only to faint while they were making their escape. He had started to wake up a little while later, but then the mysterious monster soothed Tokomon back to sleep.

"Giga Destroyer II!"

"Zandenken!"

MetalTyrranomon and Tekkamon tried to attack from opposite ends, but Machinedramon just grabbed both of the digimon with his hands and shoved them into two pillars. What he didn't realize was that Hakase was hiding on MetalTyrranomon and once Machinedramon latched onto him, Hakase began to run up his arm.

Tokomon had finally woken up in a cave, after losing his friends, almost becoming evil by the hands of Guardromon (which he still never understood why Guardromon didn't just try and kill him), and being rescued by a mysterious digimon that he now assumed was probably Leopardmon.

"Ayah!" Machinedramon head butted Hakase before he could get into a good position to fire at the gap in Machinedramon's head and was knocked onto the floor, battered and unconscious. Machinedramon then took the two ultimate level digimon he was holding and threw them into a pile on the floor with Hakase.

"Any last words?" He asked pompously.

Kazu was so wrapped up in watching the battle that he did not notice the bundle of dark needle wires under his robe fall and become exposed.

Now it was Tokomon's time to shine.

"Yeah," MetalTyrranomon coughed, "I got something to say."

"Well tell me." Machinedramon surpressed a laugh.

"Pride always cometh before a fall."

"What?"

"You should have stayed emotionless. Now you're going to pay for it."

"Machinedramon!" Kazu screamed at his partner, who turned around to see Tokomon, ready to pounce on Kazu's stomach, with his rows of deadly teeth pushing out of his mouth.

"No!" Machinedramon leaped towards Tokomon as the tiny monster bit down on the wires.

**The Digital World, Now**

"Where the hell was MetalSeadramon!?" Stingmon raved as Ken helped him stumble back up the steps of the citadel on top of Spiral Mountain. Upon returning from his battle, Imperialdramon had barely any energy to keep his form anymore.

"I don't know!" Ken groaned back. "We'll find out when we get inside." When they got up to the door, their question was answered for them, as Zoe and Betamon marched out with a determined look on their faces (which turned to horror when they saw Ken and Stingmon standing a few feet in front of them).

"Oh, hey guys." Zoe waved at them innocently.

"Where the… where the fff…" Stingmon tried to yell at the girl and her partner, but had no energy to do so. Ken then finished his partner's question in a much louder voice.

"Um, it's uh," Zoe muttered, "It's complicated."

"Complicated!?" Ken roared. "We just got our asses kicked because there was nobody there to help us win!"

"Didn't the Evil Partners help?" She gave a nervous smile.

"No! The Evil Partners did not help! The worthless sons-of-bitches all died while fighting Rapidmon!"

"Oh. I didn't realize he was that strong."

"That's because he wasn't! He digivolved into MegaGargomon, all because you weren't there to make sure that crap like that didn't happen!"

"Well I'm sorry, what do you want me to say?"

"What I want is for you to explain to me why you weren't there!"

"Um… I can't?" She said to Ken's frustration.

"Well why not!?" He bellowed. Zoe just stood there saying nothing, with only a confused look on her face.

"It's okay Zoe, you can tell him." A voice behind the destined of determination hissed. Ken's eyes widened when he heard it.

"That voice…" He immediately dropped his partner (who was unconscious and had no idea he had been dropped) and fell to his knees. "Master…"

"Well, at least it took you less time for you to realize who I was than Zoe." DemiDevimon jumped from behind the girl (who also began to kneel) and confronted Ken. "Zoe didn't go to help you because I stopped her. We were preparing for a more important mission."

"I understand master, and I apologize for questioning your wishes. Had I known-"

"Yes, had you known you would have behaved yourself and blah blah blah. I don't really give a damn anymore; all that matters is that our situation is becoming increasingly worse."

"May I ask why, my liege?"

"Oh, another thing you do better than Zoe. (Zoe frowned at this, but didn't let DemiDevimon know it) Very well. I have just learned from that ingenious device you have upstairs that Kazu has been released from my control." Ken looked up with eyes so wide that his eyeballs would have fallen out if it were physically possible.

"Rest assured master, I will help in any way I can." Ken bowed again.

"Will you now? After learning of how you betrayed me and let Infermon and WarGreymon destroy me all those years ago, what makes you think I should trust you!?"

"Master, I only did it because-"

"Yes, yes, you wanted to make the world easier for me to conquer, well Zoe already fed me that garbage. No, I'm talking about how you convinced the others to betray me, you half wit." At this, Zoe made a move to comment, but decided against interrupting the impatient rookie.

"Did Zoe tell you that?" Ken inquired.

"It doesn't take a genius to sniff out a rat my boy."

"Master, I promise you that I was fooled just like Zoe, Joe, and Kazu. It was Yolei and Koichi who convinced us that it would be in your best interest for us to momentarily get you out of the way."

"Was it now?" DemiDevimon turned his head to Zoe, who nodded. "Well then, it looks like I owe you an apology Ken, I was sure that you were not to be trusted. However it seems that we have another snake in the grass that needs tending to."

"But what about Koichi master?" Zoe riskily inquired.

"I brought him inside before I revealed myself to you." DemiDevimon explained. "It wasn't a challenge to get him from those ingrates at the refugee camp."

"Then master," Said Ken, "Should we head for the city territory and arrest Yolie?"

"Yes we shall my loyal servant," DemiDevimon nodded, "However we will also get back my old servants. They will be essential to our plans as well. That is why I need the both of you to help me. I cannot round them all up on my own."

"Yes my lord." The two evil digidestined recited respectfully.

***

"Hey, Kazu, are you okay in there?" Tai waved his hand in front of the formerly evil digidestined's face. Kazu hadn't woken up like Matt or Joe (which Tai and T.K. had no idea about, so they were only comparing him to Matt). He hadn't freaked out about what he had done. He hadn't pleaded forgiveness. He only woke up and sat against a pillar, where he stared off into space with a look of intense guilt. Machinedramon, likewise, had degenerated almost immediately after Tokomon had bitten through Kazu's dark needles and came to his partner's side to sit in thought. That was an hour ago when he had woken up, and four hours ago when Tokomon had defeated him when Hagurumon sat quietly.

"I did… so many things." He whispered. "I killed, so many."

"No you didn't." Tai said comfortingly. Kazu looked up at him with opposing eyes. "You didn't kill those digimon, the dark needle made you do it."

"But, I felt like I was, in control-"

"Don't." Tai stopped the boy. "You may have felt like you were in control, but in reality the dark needle transformed you into something that you weren't. It took away almost all of your humanity, so there was nothing left for you except to destroy."

"How do you know?"

"I just do. Now you need to forget about that for right now. There's something more important that you need to be doing."

"And what's that?"

"The digimon that you were surpressing when you were evil rebelled against you. They're fighting the guards and there's a lot of blood being spilled. We tried to calm the fighting, but the guards won't listen to us. They're still too scared to disobey your orders."

"Then I guess I'd better tell them to stop." Said Kazu while standing up. "There is a balcony through here," He pointed to the huge door behind him (that nobody had seen since it blended in with the colors of the room. "Would you all join me?"

"Of course we would." MetalTyrranomon said comfortingly. MetalTyrranomon then opened the door (the entire palace was built for Machinedramon's size, so it was easy for him to get around) and he, Tekkamon, Agumon Hakase, Datamon, Tai, Agumon, T.K., Tokomon, Kazu, and Hagurumon then all walked down the humongous hallway, up a few flights of stairs, and onto a huge balcony that could support the whole lot of them, as well as two more entities.

"What's going on here?" Yolei and Puppetmon stared wide eyed at the party that had just emerged on the balcony. Her eyes darted between the hero digidestined, the refugee camp commanders, and her allies. After a few seconds, it finally came to her. "Oh my god, not you too!?" She gripped her head in anger. "Puppetmon!" The mannequin was about to strike, but Agumon (who had gained his strength back) was prepared.

**"WarGreymon!"** The mega form of Agumon emerged and punched Puppetmon with ferocious power in the face, knocking him unconscious. He then grabbed the mannequin and Yolei, and flew them onto the top of a building a few hundred feet away where they would not cause any trouble. WarGreymon then flew back, and Kazu began his apology. He walked up to an electronic panel built into the railing and pressed a button, signaling a microphone to rise up from the railing to Kazu's mouth level. Below them, the digidestined and ally digimon were watching a massive struggle between all sorts of digimon. It was true that the entire city had begun revolting, and the guards were desperately trying to stop them so that their master did not kill them if the rebels were to actually get into the palace.

"Everybody," Kazu spoke into the microphone with a solemn voice. His words gained the attention of both the rebels and the guards. They all kept fighting for the next few seconds, but eventually most of the (huge) crowd started to calm down, and they turned their attention to Kazu. "Stop fighting." He said simply. A roar emerged from the rebels of the crowd, and the guards were about to attack, but Kazu spoke before they could. "Guards, stop fighting. You are free. All of you are free. I am not going to hurt one more of you." Every single digimon in the city stopped making noise and stared up at Kazu, who had just spoken the miraculous words. "For the past 101 years I've been under the influence of the dark needle, implanted in me by Devimon. But the hero digidestined have returned from their exile, and they freed me of the needle. If they'll let me, I'm going to help them defeat the rest of the evil digidestined and free them from the dark needles as well." Kazu then walked away from the podium, and left the previously warring digimon to work out their new situation themselves.

"That was uh…" Tai thought for a second, "Really quick; and gloomy."

"Well as long as they stop fighting, it doesn't really matter." T.K. reasoned. "Are you okay Kazu?"

"Would you be, if you had done what I've done?" Kazu said darkly.

"Kazu, I know you feel horrible about what happened, but you can make up for everything." Tai said with confidence. "Help us save the rest of the evil digidestined from the dark needles and put the digital world back on track." He held out his hand to the boy. Kazu stared at him for a second, and then embraced his new friend in a hearty handshake.

"Thanks Tai. You're good people." Kazu gave a smile. Tai couldn't help but laugh a little. He didn't know why.

"Agh!!!" A bellow from a nearby skyscraper reminded everyone that the battle was a little closer at hand then they would have liked to believe.

"Before we congratulate ourselves on a job well done, perhaps we should deal with her." WarGreymon nodded to the girl on top of the skyscraper, who they could see was trying to force Puppetmon awake.

"WarGreymon, can you get me, Kazu, and Hagurumon up there?" Tai inquired of his partner.

"Do you need to ask?" WarGreymon laughed, and then grabbed the three in question under his arms and jumped towards the building.

"I didn't realize we'd start so soon." Kazu said warily.

"The best way to get out of that after-evil slump I know you're in is to get right into the action. That's what Matt did and look how he turned out."

"I'd like to point out that Matt's only been a good guy for around a week." Kazu reasoned.

"And you've only been one for an hour, what's your point?" Tai smiled as they arrived and WarGreymon dropped the lot of them on the skyscraper. They could see Yolei a few yards away from them standing up from trying to awaken Puppetmon to glare at her visitors.

"Kazu…" She growled.

"Yolei…" Kazu nodded.

"AAAGGGHHH!!!!!!!!!" Yolei, in a rampage, charged towards Kazu and was about to tackle him when WarGreymon caught the girl and stopped her from knocking both of them possibly over the edge.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" Yolei began to rant, and proceeded to scream variations of murderous promises to her former ally.

"That's enough of that now." WarGreymon was tired of the girl's screams after a few seconds, and clapped his hand over her mouth so that her words were muffled.

"So what do you want me to do up here?" Kazu inquired.

"I didn't think that part out much. I guess there's not really much to do up here anyway." Tai shrugged, much to WarGreymon's, Hagurumon's, and Kazu's dissatisfaction. Then Puppetmon groaned and began to wake up. "Although you could have Hagurumon fight him. That'd be a really redeeming thing to do."

"If you think it's a good idea."

"So what," Puppetmon grumbled as he woke up and got up to his feet, "You're one of the good guys now Kazu, just like that?"

"Just like that." Kazu replied.

"So now you're going to fight me?" Puppetmon suppressed a laugh. "I don't know if you remember, but you were a pansy when you were a good guy!" Puppetmon's laugh echoed over the city. "Fighting you and Hagurumon would be like fighting T.K. over there with his hands tied behind his back!"

"Hey!" They heard the destined of hope protest.

"I think you underestimate us Puppetmon." Hagurumon said defiantly.

"Well then, if you're so confident then why don't we put it to the test?" He smiled evilly.

"Then put it to the test we shall." Kazu stated cockily.

**"Hagurumon, warp digivolve to… Andromon!"** Hagurumon's ultimate form stood on top of the building to the surprise of everyone there. "Um, that wasn't supposed to happen Kazu."

"But it's so funny that it did, isn't it!?" Puppetmon laughed heavily, and then slipped the mallet that he had been magically hiding in his pocket out and let it multiply in size.

"Andromon, why aren't you mega?" Kazu asked in a panicked state.

"I don't know!" He replied nervously.

"I bet I know!" Puppetmon laughed and then raised his mallet over his head. "Puppet Pummel!" WarGreymon grabbed Tai and Kazu and jumped off of the platform so that only Andromon had to dodge the psychotic monster's attack.

"Lightning Blade!" Andromon tried to counter attack, but Puppetmon easily dodge rolled and swung his mallet at Andromon again, who jumped out of the way. "Why can't I digivolve to mega?" He demanded to know.

"And why should I tell you?" Puppetmon laughed while they continued to dance around each other in battle.

"Because it'll make me suffer, and that's your favorite thing to do to an opponent; making them suffer without actually hurting them."

"That's a good point. The reason you can't digivolve is, well I don't know if you've noticed, but you and Kazu were a pretty corrupted pair for awhile. So it would make sense that with all the corruption, you wouldn't be able to digivolve properly!" He laughed again.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm SAYING, you probably could digivolve to mega if you wanted to, but Machinedramon was your corrupted mega form, and you're a good guy now. You can't digivolve to mega because you don't know what your purified mega form is!" He stifled his laugh this time.

"It's HiAndromon!" Agumon Hakase called from the other roof. Puppetmon's smirk vanished.

"You know Puppetmon, I've always wanted to say this to you:" Andromon glared. "You are an idiot."

"No!" Puppetmon lunged at Andromon in an effort to defeat him before the new hero could digivolve.

**"Andromon digivolve to HiAndromon!"** He digivolved with lightning speed, and when Puppetmon collided with the new mega all that happened was the mannequin was caught by the angry monster and thrown into the side of the building. HiAndromon was, just like Andromon, a humanoid robot. Except for HiAndromon's armor was stronger and in the eyes of his beholders cooler than Andromon's. Andromon was now covered head to toe (and arms) in black form fitting armor, with only a few red areas in his joints revealing themselves and silver patches in a few places. Red and blue skull like shoulder pads were on his armor, and his helmet fit his head but revealed a silver, organic mouth and a silver visor instead of actual eyes or the sunlight-lacking skin that Andromon had. He also had some sort of silver rifle on his back.

"Crap." Puppetmon grumbled. HiAndromon didn't give Puppetmon time to say or do anything else.

"Atomic Ray!" The mega android flipped his rifle off of his back and fired an energy bullet at Puppetmon, who was too slow to defend and was hit in the gut and knocked off of the tower. HiAndromon ran to the side to see Puppetmon fall into a generator on the building and see the both of them explode. However Puppetmon had slipped out of his caved in position unnoticed and barely survived. He then pushed off of the building (in view of HiAndromon) and –

"Puppet Pummel!" He swung his mallet so that the bullets loaded within it fired out and obliterated the center of the building HiAndromon was standing on. As he, WarGreymon, and all of the digimon evacuated the area, HiAndromon and WarGreymon quickly rounded up the rest of their friends (MetalTyrannomon was a challenge but they accomplished it) and flew away before the building fell onto Kazu's castle. The electronics within both buildings were still operating at this time, so when they collided the buildings erupted in flames, illuminating the night sky. Fortunately all of the digimon escaped and evacuated outside of the battle zone. HiAndromon set all of his friends down on another building and then flew away towards where he thought he saw Puppetmon fall. He spotted the nervous digimon making a break for one of the bridges to the city, and started following him.

"What's your problem HiAndromon, got nothing better to do?" Puppetmon mocked his former ally as he ran as fast as he could down the alley he had just jumped into.

"What's _your_ problem Puppetmon, you too afraid to go back for your partner?" HiAndromon angrily complained of the mannequin.

"Oh no, Yolei." Puppetmon realized his mistake and skidded to a stop. He was about to run back, but he forgot about HiAndromon and the flying machine implanted his foot into the puppet's face. Puppetmon screamed in pain and flew back a few hundred feet to a clear area of pavement that marked the entrance to the city. He was now only a few dozen yards away from the bridge to (relative) safety. HiAndromon lowered himself down to ground level and prepared to fight Puppetmon again, but heard some rumbling behind him and turned to see MetalTyrannomon stomping towards them with some of their friends on his back. WarGreymon was flying overhead with the rest of them.

"Looks like you're outnumbered Puppetmon." HiAndromon stated cockily as he turned around to face the mannequin, which had disappeared from sight. "What the-"

"Puppet Pummel!" Puppetmon leaped down from a building and knocked the machine unconscious.

"HiAndromon!" Kazu called in worry as he jumped out of WarGreymon's arms and ran towards his defeated partner.

"Kazu, be careful!" WarGreymon set his partner and Yolei down in front of MetalTyrannomon and flew to intercept the boy before he ran right into Puppetmon. The doll jumped back when WarGreymon pounced in front of him, separating the monster from the group of heroes.

"Give me back Yolei!" Puppetmon ordered.

"Or what?" WarGreymon barked.

"I think you underestimate my power WarGreymon. I may not be as strong as Machinedramon _was_, but I've had my fill of digi-cores."

"Then let's see if you've got the bite to go with that bark." WarGreymon said defiantly.

"No problem, Puppet-" Puppetmon raised his mallet in preparation of attack.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A soothing voice behind him recommended. Puppetmon turned and WarGreymon leaned to see an armor covered Angel standing at the edge of the bridge only so many yards away.

"Who are you?" Puppetmon demanded. Then, an armor covered wolf jumped down to the right of Puppetmon and barked, startling Puppetmon and making him drop his mallet.

"You're worst nightmare." The wolf glared.

"MetalGarurumon!" WarGreymon cheered happily.

"I can still beat all of you!" Puppetmon yelled unconvincingly.

"You sure about that shrimpy?" A voice whispered (but to the smaller monsters and humans bellowed) to Puppetmon. Puppetmon's eyes dropped in horror when he saw a 10 story metal covered rabbit lowering himself down into the square.

"Where do you get off making a new hammer after I just broke your old one?" Another giant voice said in a low yet high voice. A second later everyone was covered in shadow and they looked up to see a golden beetle of equal size hovering above them.

"Oh, fu-" Puppetmon began.

"Language, old friend, language." A giant turtle-walrus walked out of an alley and warned.

"Agh!" Puppetmon squealed. "Not you too Zudomon!?" The rest of the digidestined who had been fighting in the city territory all day were gaping at the new assortment of allies as well.

"Degenerate, and we might go easy on you." WarGreymon commanded after snapping out of his awe.

"Like hell I-" Puppetmon began to scream, but he then heard HerculesKabuterimon growling above him and decided against it. "Like hell I will…" he said quietly.

"Well then," WarGreymon raised his clawed gauntlets into the air. "I guess we'll just have to do this the hard way."

"Terra Force!"

"Metal Wolf Claw!"

"Hyper Blaster!"

"Eden's Javelin!"

"Gargo Missile!"

"Thor's Hammer!"

"Atomic Ray!" HiAndromon had woken up a few seconds ago, and was now involved in the fray.

"Giga Destroyer II!"

"Zandenken!"

"Pepper Breath!"

"Nano Spores!"

"Bubble Blow!"

Puppetmon just twitched his eye with absolute horror as he was overwhelmed by 12 digimon.


	53. Darkness Falls

I've been looking forward to writing chapters 53, 54, 55, and possibly 56 for a while now. I've put a lot of thought and detail into what's going to happen, and I tried to forshadow the events that are about to happen know. I'd like to know if any of you expected the things that are going to happen in the next 3-4 chapters, so it would be great if you could e-mail/review me about what you think is going to happen or what you expected was going to and was proven true. I'd like to figure out if I forshadowed too much or too little (I'm leaning towards too much). Also, I give full credit to whatever studio made X-Men, Dante Alighieri, and whoever wrote the Bhagavad Gita for the quotes that I have in here. They were just too perfect not to use (and the title, that's not mine either. It's from a movie).

**Chapter Fifty Three: Darkness Falls**

Yolei sat against a building (under watch) with Mushroomon in her lap while Tai, Agumon, Kari, Salamon, T.K., Patamon, Izzy, Terriermon, Eric, Tentomon, Matt, Gabumon, Joe, Gomamon, Kazu, Hagurumon, Datamon, MetalTyrannomon, Tekkamon, and Agumon Hakase sat in a circle, relating to everybody everything that had happened to them while they had been separated (Kari had been kind enough to leave out how Eric had let her get captured and almost let her die). It was well into the night while they were talking (nobody could sleep, adrenaline dominated their bloodstreams), so they built a fire and were sitting together around it. A few times some of the city digimon had come by to ask if it was true, that Kazu was no longer evil and that they were free, and the digidestined were able to assure the poor monsters. All seemed well, for the moment.

"So I know we've probably asked this question a thousand times before, but what's next?" Eric inquired. "Should we take Yolei down to the refugee camp, or go after Ken and Zoe?"

"We should take one thing at a time and cure Yolei," Sai Izzy, "She'll be a good ally when we go after Ken and Zoe."

"But we don't know how," Said Kari, "The only way we were able to do it was with the data stream and we can't do that anymore." (The data streams were much smaller when used regularly than when a monster digivolved to another level for the first time, much smaller than needed).

"Patamon still hasn't digivolved to mega." T.K. opposed. "We could find a way to get the dark needle out of Yolei."

"But that would still leave Koichi, Zoe, and Ken Takeru." Matt reasoned. "It wouldn't be enough."

"But it would help."

"We're still not thinking about what Ken and Zoe are doing on top of Spiral Mountain." Tai argued. "If we ignore them and focus on trying to purge the dark needle out of Yolei right now, they could come back and attack us when we're least expecting it and least prepared."

"We can't just focus on Ken and Zoe though while leaving Koichi and Yolei as loose ends." Izzy reasoned.

"If I could say something," Joe, uncomfortable in his new position, raised his hand.

"You and Kazu are part of the team now Joe, you don't need to ask to say something, go ahead." Tai said to the boy kindly.

"Well, Kazu or I could go with MetalTyrannomon, Tekkamon, or Agumon Hakase and take Yolei to that refugee camp while the rest of you deal with Ken and Zoe. We could watch Yolei and Koichi, make sure they don't do anything stupid, while you capture the others and bring them back there."

"Joe, I think you're forgetting; I can't digivolve back to mega, so we wouldn't be prime candidates for guarding them." Gomamon reminded his partner.

"And while we trust you and Kazu," MetalTyrannomon addressed the boy, "The refugees wouldn't be comfortable with you in their city, even if we told them that you were good guys now."

"His idea is a good one though." Eric reasoned. "One of us could go with MetalTyrannomon to keep an eye on Yolei and Koichi, keep their digivices FAR away from them, and let the others deal with Ken and Zoe."

"If we kept their digivices really far apart, then we wouldn't even have to have one of the digidestined to watch over them." Tai began.

"What does that mean?" Tekkamon inquired.

"I mean, if we kept Yolei's digivice and crest with us, and you, MetalTyrannomon, and Agumon Hakase took her back to the refugee camp, then she wouldn't be a threat to you at all while we went after Ken and Zoe."

"But what about Koichi?" T.K. inquired.

"His digivice and crest are in a really secluded location," Hakase said vaguely (Yolei could hear every word they were saying), "He's not the real issue right now. We need to get Yolei and Mushroomon down to the camp without them destroying us while we're transporting them."

"Tai is right," Kazu nodded, "Without her digivice Yolei and Mushroomon are just a thirteen year old girl and a small plant; they'd be no match for MetalTyrannomon or Tekkamon."

"I resent that!" Yolei opposed.

"Nobody cares." Eric snapped back at her.

"I care." A voice came from the bridge. Everyone jumped up to see who was there.

"No…" Tai's face turned pure white when he saw who was standing a dozen feet in front of them on the bridge.

"It's been a long time Tai, for me anyway." Myotismon smiled at the group. "What's it been for you, almost five days now?"

"Can't you just stay dead for once?" Eric growled at the monster.

"Now why would I do that, when my plan is getting closer and closer to completion?"

"What plan!?" Kari blasted at the monster.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He laughed. "I can give you a little detail, but not before taking what I need from you people." He stared evilly and intensely at Tai.

"What do you want with me now!?" Tai bellowed at the vampire.

"You? My dear boy, whoever said I wanted you?"

"Ayah!" They heard a scream and all turned to their left to see that a huge metal covered tail had slithered out of the water and snatched Joe and Gomamon up from the ground. It wrapped around their bodies and pulled the both of them to the edge of the port, where Zoe appeared from the shadows and grabbed the boy's digivice.

"Ooph!"

"Agh!" They heard a noise behind them, and turned to see Eric knocked unconscious on the ground with Ken standing over him having just commandeered Yolei's digivice, and his partner Paildramon clutching Gabumon and Matt in his arms while Ken took his digivice.

"No!" T.K. lunged at the evil digidestined, but Ken hopped onto his partner's back and the lot of them flew over to Myotismon.

"Just one more," Myotismon whispered while Yolei dashed over to her allies.

"**Hagurumon, warp digivolve to… HiAndromon!" **Hagurumon expected what was next and pounced in front of his partner while digivolving. "Do not dare touch him!" The mega demanded of his old master.

"Oh, how sad that such a loyal servant now barks at his master," Myotismon laughed. "It's okay, I can wait. You'll come to me sooner or later. Let's go!" He barked, and then MetalSeadramon, Zoe, and Yolei (with Mushroomon in her arms) sunk into the water and sailed away, Paildramon and Ken flew up into the air and started flying in the same direction, and Myotismon started to levitate the same way. "I fully expect for you to follow us, but if you do it where we can see you, we'll slaughter them. They're good to us either way.." He gave a wicked smile, and then flew into the night sky.

"Matt!" T.K. cried out into the air as the three digimon sailed/flew away. He struggled to stay still for a second, and then finally burst into a run, trying to catch up with the fleeing monsters.

"T.K. stop!" Tai jumped forward and caught his friend's arm before the young boy could reach the bridge.

"Let go of me Tai!" He bellowed.

"You're not going anywhere T.K., not yet!"

"They have my brother; we have to go after them!"

"I know, but you heard what Myotismon said, if we try to go after them while they can see us they'll kill him!"

"So what do we do!?" T.K. snapped while pulling his arm away from Tai and walking back towards the rest of the group.

"We'll all go get them T.K., we just have to wait a minute." Izzy tried to reassure the boy.

"This whole thing is a game to Myotismon; we just have to play along if we want Matt and Joe to be okay."

"Ow…" They heard Eric moan as he tried to get up to his feet. Tai walked over to the boy and helped him to his feet. "What in God's name happened?" He squinted while asking. "Oh, right. Nevermind."

"They took Matt too." Izzy said to the boy, who hadn't actually witnessed the event.

"Dammit, are we going after them."

"In a minute." Tai said. "Myotismon wants us to follow them, but they're threatening to kill Joe and Matt if we get too close."

"Terrific." While Tai was talking, Kazu turned away to talk to his partner. Tai saw the two formerly evil boys whispering and turned to them.

"You don't have to come with us Kazu," Tai reassured the boy who turned to him when he started talking; "They wanted you too. You don't need to put yourself in more danger than we're putting ourselves in."

"No, I'll come. You might need my help." He replied.

"Why would they want Matt, Joe, and Kazu anyway?" Kari inquired.

"Well, they all used to be Myotismon's minions, so maybe he wants them back." MetalTyrannomon said somberly.

"But they all can digivolve to mega," Said Kazu, "Myotismon won't be able to corrupt them again, even if he digivolved to mega."

"Maybe he can reconstruct the dark needle," Hakase proposed, "It's still in you, Matt, and Joe, even though it's deteriorating. I don't know how easy it is for the needles to be remade."

"Let's hope that's not the case." Tai said solemnly.

"It's been long enough; can we go now?" T.K. growled.

"Yeah, we should head out." He nodded.

"We're coming with you." Said Datamon, referring to himself, MetalTyrannomon, Tekkamon, and Hakase. "It's non-negotiable."

"I understand. We're all going." Tai replied.

"We'll be faster if I take everyone." Tentomon proposed. "We're just heading north, right?"

"Yes." Kazu said simply.

"Then let's move out." Tai ordered.

"**Tentomon, warp digivolve to… HerculesKabuterimon!"** Eric, Tai, Agumon, Kari, Salamon, T.K., Patamon, Izzy, Terriermon, Kazu, HiAndromon, Datamon, MetalTyrannomon, Tekkamon, and Agumon Hakase then piled onto the enormous beetle and he flew into the air towards the top of Spiral Mountain.

"What about Rika?" Kari suddenly asked.

***

"Rika!" While Sakuyamon was flying her partner towards the city territory, they spotted a large golden insect in the distance flying towards them, and somebody on its back calling out to them.

"Don't they understand the meaning of wait?" Rika grumbled as Sakuyamon changed direction to meet them. When they got close enough however, she saw that most of her friends were with HerculesKabuterimon including some that she didn't expect to be there. "What is going on here?" She inquired. "Do you people just go around saving the world without me? It's very unfair."

"Rika," Tai said with all seriousness, "We've got a problem."

***

"Once we get to the wasteland hill that caps Spiral Mountain," Kazu explained, "The gravity will change on its own, just like at the base of the mountain. We won't have to worry about any gravitational issues when we get up there."

"Now what about the castle?" Tai inquired of their new friend. "Do you know your way around it?"

"I've never actually been inside." Kazu said remorsefully. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Tai replied, "We've had to deal with worse."

"There it is!" HerculesKabuterimon exclaimed. He pointed forward, and everyone on his back looked in the direction to see that the freshwater ocean suddenly came to a stop along a rocky hill that sloped downwards.

"Everyone remember the plan?" Tai inquired the group behind him.

"It wasn't that hard to learn Tai." Rika groaned.

"I just want to make sure." Tai stated as HerculesKabuterimon flew over the hill and found himself parallel with it.

"It's a straight up surprise attack," Kari answered her brother, "We burst into the citadel and strike with what little element of surprise we have left."

"I'll take on MetalSeadramon by myself for as long as possible." Sakuyamon recited her role.

"And me and HerculesKabuterimon will fight Imperialdramon." Terriermon added.

"Which leaves Ophanimon, MagnaAngemon, HiAndromon, and myself to battle Myotismon." Agumon nodded.

"While the four of us rescue Matt and Joe." Datamon indicated to MetalTyrannomon, Tekkamon, and Hakase.

"I still think that it would've been a better idea if we got SaberLeomon to come with us." Rika groaned for the umpteenth time.

"We talked about this," Said Tai, "He was too far away. We don't know what Myotismon is going to do with Matt and Joe or when he's going to do it, so we have to get there as soon as possible and just stick to the plan."

"I'm afraid we've lost what little element of surprise we had." HerculesKabuterimon then stated. He ducked down so that his passengers could see Imperialdramon and MetalSeadramon standing on the hill hundreds of yards in front of what the group could plainly see was the castle.

"This doesn't change the plan." Said Tai. "Sakuyamon, MegaGargomon, and HerculesKabuterimon will fight them here, and MetalGreymon and MetalTyrannomon will take us to the castle."

"Eric should come with us," Kari reasoned, "To help us find our way around the castle, just in case."

"Will you be okay without me big guy?" Eric patted a very small patch of his partner's back.

"Yeah, just hurry up with it." HerculesKabuterimon grumbled.

"Let's get moving." Tai instructed.

"**Agumon, warp digivolve to… MetalGreymon!"** Then he, Eric, Kari, Salamon, T.K., and Patamon climbed onto his back while Kazu, HiAndromon, Tekkamon, Datamon, and Agumon Hakase clambered onto MetalTyrannomon's back. Both dinosaurs then jumped off of HerculesKabuterimon (he had circled the two demons so that they were past the barrier) and flew/ran towards the castle.

"Stop them!" The tiny voice of Ken could be heard.

"I don't think that's going to happen!" Terriermon smiled as Sakuyamon dropped Izzy and Rika off far from what was about to become the battlefield. **"Terriermon, warp digivolve to… MegaGargomon!"**

"Keep moving! Don't let anything stop you!" Tai commanded as MetalGreymon and MetalTyrannomon bolted up the hill to the castle. His concerns were warranted too. Dozens of Tankmon were released from panels in the ground to attack the two dinosaurs. They were forced to take action.

"Nova Blast!"

"Giga Destroyer II!"

The two ultimate metal dinosaurs cleared their way through dozens of Tankmon, with Datamon, Tekkamon, and HiAndromon providing plenty of support.

"There certainly are a lot of guards up here huh?" T.K. sighed nervously.

"This is our main base of operations," Kazu answered, "There's always one evil tamer in there, and the plans for our regional bases as well as the main controls that keep Spiral Mountain together are all up in that castle."

"What were to happen if all the territories were to be collapsed?" Tai asked with curiosity.

"The wasteland cap is held up by a digital alloy that can't be broken. If all of the territories were to be collapsed, then the cap would stay up here until someone pressed its release button. Why?"

"Two birds, one stone my friend." Tai smiled.

"Mega Claw!"

"Giga Destroyer II!"

"It's getting a little crowded up here Tai!" MetalGreymon warned. The boy looked around to see that more and more Tankmon were starting to converge around them. This worried the leader. He knew that MetalGreymon could easily fly out of here if it got too crowded, but the only reason they were blasting their way through was because MetalTyrannomon did not have that luxury (they had forgotten to bring with them the Airdramon that had transported him in the first place).

"Go on without us." Datamon said to his friend with bravado.

"I'm not leaving you guys behind," Tai refused, "You're crucial to the plan."

"It's okay Tai," Tekkamon nodded, "We can take care of ourselves. You guys just need to make sure you stick together to fight VenomMyotismon." His determined eyes convinced the goggle head to comply.

"Kazu, HiAndromon, go with MetalGreymon." MetalTyrannomon instructed.

"But we can-"

"They need you more than we do, now go." The two unwillingly complied and jumped onto MetalGreymon's back. The ultimate and its passengers then said goodbye to their friends and picked up flight speed across the ever condensing field of Tankmon, which had to have reached about a hundred by now. Once they were far enough away, they spotted a level patch of ground in front of the large arched doorway into the castle, and MetalGreymon landed.

"They'll be okay, won't they Tai?" Kari inquired of her brother.

"Let's hope so." Was his unwanted answer. "If they die though, they can come back to life. Matt and Joe can't."

"Then let's get moving." Eric added. "How do we get in?" He looked up at the door, which was ten feet tall, arched, and had nine inscriptions in what looked to be some sort of romance language over it and each other.

"Just a second." Kazu said, and then reached into his robe pocket and pulled out a wallet. He rifled through the wallet to find what the rest of the digidestined could only assume was the key.

"What do these inscriptions say?" Tai asked while observing the writing above the door.

"I don't know." Kazu replied. "They're Latin or something. Ken wrote them when he took up primary residence there."

"Oh God…" Eric finally whispered to himself.

"What's wrong?" the other tamers turned to him (including Kazu, who stopped looking through the surprisingly loaded wallet).

"Kazu, did Ken have a purpose for writing those words up there?"

"I imagine he did," The tamer of ingenuity replied, "Ken rarely does something unless it's productive."

"What does it say Eric?" Tai urged.

"I only recognize one line; the last one; but it's enough." He murmured. The other destined looked at the last line in confusion.

**Lasciate ogni speranza voi ch'entrate**

"Will you tell us already?" Kari urged.

"It says "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here." Eric replied.

"Yeah, it sounds ominous, but what's so special about it?"

"Oh." Kazu sounded from behind them.

"Oh what?" T.K. urged.

"Abandon hope, all ye who enter here," Said Eric, "Is from the Inferno of Dante's Divine Comedy. It's the ninth line over the gate… to hell."

"Oh…" Tai gaped, "Well that does sound bad."

"Well, does it matter?" T.K. inquired.

"It matters if we're about to run into a deadly hellhole." Eric snapped at the boy.

"That's just a risk we're going to have to take." Tai reasoned. "We'll be careful though. We won't take any unnecessary risks."

"Okay, fine with me. Just don't ask me to go swimming anywhere." His comment made no sense to the others, so they turned back to Kazu.

"Do you have the key?" Tai inquired.

"Uh… (He rifled through the wallet for another second, and then pulled out a red playing card) yep. Here we go."

"Do we get in by playing a game of poker?" Kari joked.

"It's the queen of hearts." Kazu thought that was all the explanation that was needed, and for Eric (and Eric alone) it was.

"Aw, damn. I hate how much Ken thinks like me." He moaned. Kazu then walked past them and placed the card (the queen flat against it) against a panel on one of the double doors, where they heard some mechanical equipment whirring for a second before they heard the lock click in the door, signaling that it was open. Kazu slipped the card back in his pocket and placed his hands on the doorknobs.

"Welcome to hell." He shrugged and opened the doors, where immediately he was taken by a dark shadow and pulled into the depths of the hallway. "Agh!!!" His cry slowly faded away into the abyss.

"Kazu!" HiAndromon ran after him.

"HiAndromon, wait!" Tai called to the creature, but he was gone. A moment later they heard the machine gasp as well, and then all was silent.

"Son-of-a-bitch." Eric moaned.

"Here." T.K. pushed the flashlight he had fished out of his backpack and placed it in Tai's hand so that they could see into the dark entrance way.

"Maybe we should have some backup when we go in, just in case." Tai proposed.

**"Patamon, warp digivolve to… MagnaAngemon!"**

**"Salamon, warp digivolve to… Ophanimon!"**

**"MetalGreymon digivolve to… WarGreymon!"**

"Is everyone ready to go inside?" Kari asked nervously.

"No." Tai gulped.

"But you're right, we have to go in." Eric took the flashlight from Tai's hand. "I'll lead the way. No sense in letting the youngest of our group or the leader to be engulfed by some shadow when the jackass can do just as well." He flipped the switch on and walked inside. He rotated the flashlight around a bit, and then called back: "It's an entrance hall, nothing special, except that the stairs lead down instead of up: just like hell." He turned to face the wall with the door, and gasped happily. A moment later he flipped a switch and the lights to the main room turned on. He flipped off the flashlight as the rest of the digidestined and digimon walked inside to see that it was just as Eric described it: a plain (as plain as entrance halls got) wide floor with a door on the far end and two different staircases surrounding it: one leading up and the other leading down.

"Which way should we go?" T.K. inquired.

"Well, Myotismon, Ken, and Yolei are evil, so I'm going to go with down." Kari replied.

"Sounds like good reasoning to me, let's move." Tai said courageously and started walking towards the downstairs.

"Let me go first," WarGreymon glided in front of his partner, "Just in case." The convoy then started along, with WarGreymon and Tai first, Eric, Kari, and T.K. in the middle, and MagnaAngemon and Ophanimon bringing up the rear (all in that order). They walked cautiously down the staircase (which only lasted for about twenty feet) to a door at its base.

"We need to be careful." WarGreymon warned, "The farther we go into this castle, the more danger we're in." He then reached for the door, but before he grabbed it with his hand the door swung open away from them and a dark shadow jumped at WarGreymon and Tai before they knew what was happening. WarGreymon tried to attack it but all that happened was he fell forward and was gone. The shadow then flew back into the area beyond the door and slammed it shut.

"Tai!" Kari cried to her brother. Ophanimon immediately pounced on the door in an attempt to get it open, but she could not budge it.

***

"Taichi Kamiya, welcome." Tai woke up from whatever had knocked him out and found himself in a square, gray room that's only decoration was a window taking up an entire wall. WarGreymon was right next to him and had no idea what was happening either, except that Myotismon was talking to them and was not in the room. Whatever was beyond the window in the room was shrouded in darkness, so they had no idea where the monster might be.

"Where are you!?" Tai demanded to know.

"Patience, worthy adversary. First, let's play a game." Myotismon's voice seemed to echo about the room.

"I'm tired of playing your games!" Tai screamed at the monster.

"Well in case you haven't noticed you don't have much of a choice. There's no way out of this room I'm keeping you in."

"We'll see about that." WarGreymon growled, and then punched the glass wall with his clawed gauntlet. It didn't budge.

"Indeed WarGreymon," Myotismon laughed condescendingly, "Now back to my game." Suddenly a light came on in the room on the other side of the window, and Tai and WarGreymon could see everything and everybody inside. It was a large, circular room with only one door visible on the other end. There were two posts with clips on them, two sets of shackles hanging from the ceiling, and a white circular panel (on the wall) in a line placed from the wall to near the center of the room. There were seven of these lines, and in the middle was a raised white circle platform. But all of that did not matter to what was in the shackles and on the posts. From their right, Matt, Joe, Kazu, Yolei, and Koichi were in five of the back shackles with their partners chained in the front ones, while their crests and digivices were clipped onto the posts in front of them. All five of the children were struggling to get free of the chains, but it was no use.

"What are you going to do to them!?" Tai demanded again.

"Ah, but if I told you, then the game would be over." Myotismon laughed. "Now think, young one. What do all five of these children have in common?"

"You have them all locked up like wild animals!"

"Besides that you insolent brat." Tai growled at the monster, but then gave the obvious answer.

"They were all your servants, before we saved Matt, Kazu, and Joe."

"You're on the right track, but you need to go a little further."

"Further?"

"Yes, think about it Tai. They were all my servants because…"

"You infected them with dark needles." Tai snapped his answer.

"That's right, good for you. And dark needles…" Myotismon urged the boy to continue further.

"They infect their hosts," Tai sounded annoyed at the obvious answer, but then it came to him, "And they grow."

"Great job Tai! You're right, they grow. Dark needles fester inside their host until they eventually take over the entire body. Now that process takes hundreds of years to completely take effect, but in the meantime, the hosts are imbued with incredible dark power, if only they knew how to access it."

"You're going to take the dark needles out of them and use their power." Tai growled.

"In a humane way of course. I will remove the dark needles without killing them and spare their lives, for now." He laughed.

"What are you going to do with the dark needles?"

"I'll just leave you with this one word that should explain everything: Piedmon."

"Oh, no." Tai groaned.

"Myotismon is going to try to free his boss from the dark plane!" WarGreymon exclaimed.

"We have to save the others!" Tai yelled. His partner then dashed to the glass window and started pounding on it with his gauntlets to no avail. He continued like this for several minutes with nothing changing, until they saw the door to the room beyond open and Myotismon walk in with bulges under his cape. He released them a second later so that Tai and WarGreymon could see Ken, Zoe, Wormmon, and Betamon tumbling out.

"Hurry!" Tai urged his partner.

"I'm trying!" WarGreymon snapped while smashing his claws into the glass rapidly. Unfortunately it did not respond to that kind of pressure.

"Try a Terra Force." Tai suggested as Myotismon picked up the semi-conscious Ken (who they had no idea how they were captured) and cuff him into the shackles. He then took Wormmon and hung the small worm ackwardly in the front pair, afterwards placing the boy's digivice and crest on the two posts.

"I can't." WarGreymon argued. "It would burn up all of the oxygen in the room." They could then see Zoe screaming something at her master as he chained her to the shackles. They did not know what it was, but could only imagine that she was saying "why are you doing this!" Myotismon then picked up Betamon (who was struggling just as violently as his partner had been) and chained him to the shackles in front of Zoe.

"All done." Myotismon smiled.

"Why did you bring us here!?" Tai demanded in his usual abrasive voice as Myotismon walked over to a switch on a panel on the wall that obviously activated the machine.

"Because I wanted you to watch." Myotismon laughed.

"Well it was a mistake! WarGreymon will bust us out of here and even if you do summon Piedmon from the dark plane (this is what Tai had assumed based on the facts he had) it won't matter! Our friends will destroy him!" Myotismon then curved his head towards Tai (WarGreymon was still hammering at the window) and scoffed.

"Ha! Is that what you think I'm doing? Is that what you think I am? A servant of some monster you've never met named Piedmon?"

"Wha-"

"I don't work for Piedmon! I don't serve him!" He threw his arms outward, flipped the switch, and started backing onto the white panel.

"Y-you said that you had a b-boss." Tai stuttered.

"I don't have _a_ boss, I have _bosses_. And not one of them is Piedmon."

"But if you don't work for him, then…" WarGreymon stopped hammering; it was no use.

"That's right Tai," Myotismon gleamed, "I AM PIEDMON!" Then the machine came to life. Immediately the seven white panels on the walls behind the seven digidestined fired a stream of energy through the four objects in front of them. The streams poured first into each of the digidestined, and then fired out of their stomachs with more force and size. Then they flowed into the digimon and blasted out even stronger. The digivices and crests provided a final multiplying factor to the beams before they all poured into Myotismon, and he was covered in a bright (yet somehow with a dark aura) light. **"Myotismon, warp digivolve to…"** They watched the energy around him swell into a ball around him and slowly get larger and larger. Finally it occurred to WarGreymon to-

"Tai, get down!" He jumped on top of his partner and threw him to the floor, shielding him as the energy around Myotismon blasted outwards and decimated the glass in front of them. After it was over, Tai looked up to see the monster from his nightmares standing in the middle of the room. Piedmon heard the boy's grunts, then turned around and with the widest grin on his face said:

"And I am become death, the destroyer of worlds."


	54. The Knights of Old

I'm not big on love scenes, so forgive me if the one in here sucks (which I'm sure it does). It just seemed like an appropriate time for it, no matter how small it is.

**Chapter Fifty Four: The Knights of Old**

Piedmon was a clown. He had big yellow boots that went up to his ankles. He wore green tights. He had a red shirt/duster that dropped to the ground behind him, but in front of him exposed him all the way to his waist. The red shirt had a frilly wait line, and a heart belt buckle strapped around his waist. White frills were his cuffs, and yellow buttons lined his sleeves. Black spades that resembled skulls where on his shoulders, which were more puffed out and circular than an average human, but not as defined as most digimon. He wore a frilly white collar. Blue ribbons fluttered off of his back. Two swords were crossed on his back. He wore white gloves. His face was pure white except for his lips, which were black. But you could only see the bottom half of his face. The top half was covered in a half black and half white helmet with eyeholes. His white eyehole was slashed. There was a heart posted on the back of the white part of his helmet. His hair was yellow at its base and orange at the top, which looked like a jet of fire shooting out of his head. Yes, Piedmon was a clown.

But Tai and WarGreymon weren't laughing. WarGreymon wasn't laughing because he was unconscious. Tai wasn't laughing because Piedmon took one look at him with his soulless, pure evil eyes, and he fainted. Then he heard screams. They weren't defined (he was in dream land, why would they be), but he definitely heard screams. He heard a boy; then a girl; then another boy; then another girl; then Kazu; then Joe; then-

"Agh!!!" Matt jumped away from Piedmon just as he was about to perform some atrocious act on him, and Tai woke up. Tai jumped to his feet (which wasn't an easy thing to do because WarGreymon was partially on top of him, although was waking up was well) to see Matt with Tsunomon in his hands jumping away from a white sheet that flew past him and crumbled harmlessly against the wall. Tai turned to see Piedmon standing with his hand outstretched laughing his head off.

"WarGreymon!" He called his partner, who immediately jumped to his feet and lunged at Piedmon. He didn't move. He didn't try to defend. All that Piedmon had to do was keep his hand outstretched, and when WarGreymon was milliseconds away from pouncing on him, Piedmon grabbed the monster's finger and threw him to the ground effortlessly.

"Agh!!!" WarGreymon gasped in pain as Piedmon kicked the monster in the side, making him roll across the floor to Tai and Matt's feet.

"Aw, did I hurt the little baby?" Piedmon laughed condescendingly. WarGreymon got back to his feet a second later, but wasn't as eager to attack him this time.

"How could you have changed form again?" Tai inquired of the clown, his voice cracking as he did so.

"Oh Tai, if I told you then the game wouldn't be any fun." Piedmon smirked.

"What game is it now, and when did you get so obsessed with games?" He tried to growl.

"Tai, it wouldn't be any fun for me to just kill you and all of your friends right now, so I am going to allow you, all four of you, to run out that door, warn your friends about what has just happened, and in five minutes I will come after you. After that, all bets are off, and if I see you I will, "do something" to you. I haven't decided what yet." He lost himself in thought for a second, and then looked back down at the four standing in front of him. "Are you still here? You only have 2 minutes and 55 seconds left." He chuckled. The four heroes looked at each other for half a second and then took off towards the doorway. Fortunately Piedmon kept his promise and let them run out the door without attacking them. They found themselves at the same staircase that Tai and WarGreymon had been kidnapped in.

"Where are the others!?" Matt urged to know.

"Most everyone was outside fighting Imperialdramon, MetalSeadramon, and an army of Tankmon." Tai explained as they ran up the steps as fast as they could, with WarGreymon at the rear to defend them if necessary. "Eric, Kari, T.K., Ophanimon, and MagnaAngemon were in this hallway when I was kidnapped, so I don't know where they are now."

"If they couldn't follow us into that room then they probably went into another part of the castle or outside to find the others." WarGreymon reasoned.

"Eric wouldn't let our siblings in any danger, they're probably outside." Matt reasoned, and they bolted towards the doorway.

"What happened to the other tamers?" Tai inquired his friend. "I only saw you after I woke up."

"I don't know." He panted. "One minute they were there and then- Piedmon did- something and then the next minute they were…" He had emotional trouble describing what had happened, "Gone." Tai was mortified by what he had said, but sucked it up and spoke.

"Let's move faster." The three runners (Tsunomon was in Matt's arms) then blasted out of the doors to the flat platform on the hill, in front of the castle, where they were overjoyed to see Eric, Kari, T.K., MagnaAngemon, and Ophanimon in worried conversation.

"Tai!" Kari cheered.

"Matt!" T.K. screeched, and both eight year olds then jumped to hug their brothers.

"I'm glad to see you're okay but this isn't the time." Tai said hurriedly.

"What happened? How did you escape? Where are the others?" Eric questioned and questioned and questioned.

"It's hard to explain, but Myotismon is actually-" Before he could actually finish, the wall to their left exploded and Piedmon jumped out.

"I got bored." He glared at them as if they were his dinner.

"Run!" Matt ordered.

"Terra Force!" As the children and the angels started running, WarGreymon fired an orb of flames at the clown, who seemingly let the attack hit him. WarGreymon then scooped up all of the travelers (except for Ophanimon and MagnaAngemon of course) and started flying away as fast as possible, the two angels hot on his tails.

"Who is that?" Ophanimon pleaded to know.

"It's Piedmon." WarGreymon replied depressingly.

"You mean the guy Myotismon was working for?" MagnaAngemon inquired while checking back behind him to make sure they weren't being followed.

"No, I mean Myotismon's evolved form." WarGreymon answered while MagnaAngemon, Ophanimon, T.K., Kari, and Eric gave a mortified face as a response.

"But Myotismon digivolves into VenomMyotismon," Kari refuted WarGreymon's claim, "We saw it."

"Yeah well, apparently he can digivolve to Piedmon as well, and Piedmon's a lot more powerful than I am at the moment so we have to find the others."

"WarGreymon!" A voice called ahead of them, and they all looked up to see HerculesKabuterimon flying towards them.

"Why aren't you fighting Imperialdramon?" Ophanimon asked the giant beetle.

"He and MetalSeadramon just disappeared." HerculesKabuterimon looked flustered. "Ken and Zoe too. I came to look for you guys while MegaGargomon, Sakuyamon, and their partners tended to the other's wounds." He had questions, but they were too many to ask all at the same time, so HerculesKabuterimon let the others ask theirs.

"What do you mean wounds?" WarGreymon asked as he placed Eric on his partner's back (he was fine holding Tai, Matt was now being held by MagnaAngemon, and T.K. and Kari were being held by their partners).

"MetalTyrannomon, Datamon, Tekkamon, and Hakase suffered some pretty bad injuries while they were fighting the Tankmon. They'll live though. We came to help them after Imperialdramon and MetalSeadramon disappeared. What happened with you guys?" WarGreymon was about to ask his friend to talk a little bit lower, but he was interrupted.

"I did." They heard a voice and turned around to see Piedmon levitating behind them.

"Move!" WarGreymon bellowed and started flying away, with the others not questioning and following him, but before they knew it Piedmon flashed in front of them.

"Uh uh uh, we'll have none of that now." He waved his finger at them. "You people aren't going anywhere, unless one of you wants to stay behind and play while the others go warn their friends about what I'm about to do to them." The four hovered in the air for a second without saying a word.

"You guys go," Eric said selflessly. "We'll hold him off."

"Are you crazy? It's a trap!" WarGreymon bellowed.

"For us, not you, now go!" HerculesKabuterimon ordered. His piercing voice was the final touch that convinced them all to fly away. Piedmon seemed unaffected.

"How kind of you to sacrifice yourself for your friends." Piedmon smiled. "Too bad you don't have the crest of kindness."

"We don't intend on sacrificing ourselves at all," Eric said defiantly, "We're planning on kicking your ass together."

"Aw, that's sweet." He gave a fake touched smile, and then disappeared.

"What the-?" Immediately, HerculesKabuterimon was punched in the gut and fainted. He fell to the ground with an earth shaking crash and forced Eric to roll off the monster. A second later Eric heard a roar from HerculesKabuterimon and the boy turned his head to see that his partner had disappeared. "HerculesKabuterimon!" He cried, but then the teen felt himself being picked up by his collar, and a moment was spun around so that he was face to face with Piedmon.

"You once asked me who I wanted revenge against," Piedmon said seriously, "And I told you that I'd reveal this to you when there was nothing you could do about it." He smirked now. "Well the time has come. Now before I say anything, any last words?" Eric replied by spitting in his face.

***

"Tai! What's going on!?" Rika screamed to her friend as they all landed around MetalTyrannomon and the rest of their friends.

"Myotismon is Piedmon!" He screamed really quickly. "And he's too strong for us, we have to run!"

"Where's Eric?" Izzy inquired. "And HerculesKabuterimon?"

"He offered to stay behind and distract Piedmon while we escaped." Tai answered somberly. They had bigger things to think about.

"Agh!" MegaGargomon boomed. Everyone under him fell over in agonizing pain (Izzy fell to his partner's feet), but fortunately they recovered quickly so that they could see a huge sheet descending upon MegaGargomon's body, and the monster disappearing (from space) under it. A moment later it reached his feet and covered Izzy. A second later the sheet crumpled into a small white hankerchief on the ground and Izzy and MegaGargomon were nowhere in sight.

"What happened to them!?" Kari whined.

"That's what happened to the others!" Matt exclaimed.

"Raw!" MetalTyrannomon exclaimed in pain, and the rest of their partnerless friends screamed as well, and they turned to see four sheets covering him, Datamon, Tekkamon, and Hakase, and then vanishing a second later.

"You should have run when you had the chance." Piedmon walked out from behind a rock and smiled.

"What did you do to them!?" Matt growled.

"I didn't kill them if you must know." He smiled and grabbed something off of his belt. "I put them somewhere for safe keeping so that I can kill you all once the time comes." He opened his palm to reveal a tiny keychain in the shape of Eric.

"You- you turned them into key chains? How is that possible!?" Tai raved.

"Oh it's not," Piedmon smirked, "Unless you're me." He pulled another white handkerchief out of his pocket. "Now who's next?"

"No one!" MagnaAngemon bellowed in a rage. "You won't hurt any more of our friends!" T.K.'s digivice then blasted to life. **"MagnaAngemon digivolve to… Seraphimon!"**

MagnaAngemon was now completely covered in armor. Completely. He had armored shoes, shin guards, knee pads, thigh guards, a cloth hanging from his belt piece, a layered waist piece connected to a blue sword shaped emblem and that connected to his chest piece which had the crest of hope on it. His lung piece was average, yet ye also had a neck piece, and a head piece that was mostly a dome that covered his entire head and hid all of its features, except that two wing-like ears protruded from it. His shoulder pads where like bent shields, his arm armor was form fitting, and blue gauntlets protruded from his upper arm. Most of his armor was silver, but different connection pieces were blue and markings along it were gold. He had five pairs of wings.

"You will pay!" Seraphimon lunged forward at incredible speed and started punching Piedmon in the gut rapidly, who didn't seem to be able to resist. He gave a final punch to the clown's head, and then jumped back so that he could form seven small orbs with his hands and fire them forward. "Strike of the Seven Stars!" They collided into Piedmon's gut and exploded upon impact. The monster was thrown into the sky and after a final "Hand of Fate!", Piedmon's data could be seen fading away in the distance. Afterwards, they all looked to Seraphimon to see him breathing heavily.

"Could it really have been that easy?" Matt gasped.

"I think it was." Seraphimon stated with a confident voice. "He was too cocky for his own good, and that was his downfall."

"He also made an angel angry, that's not a very good idea." T.K. hugged his partner.

"What about the others?" Tai inquired. "You don't think they would have been destroyed too, do you?"

"I doubt it." Seraphimon assured him. "Most likely whatever spell he had on them was broken when he was destroyed."

"Are you sure he was destroyed?" Rika questioned. "That looked too easy to me. After all the battles that we've been through, destroying Piedmon would be the quickest? I'm not buying it."

"You are right Rika," Seraphimon sighed, "I am most likely wrong. Forgive me, I let my anger get to my head."

"So he's probably not dead, but he's certainly defeated." WarGreymon said. "At least for now. He looked too bruised and there was data flying off of him for him not to be in a state of severe pain at the moment. Fortunately we've got Seraphimon here to compete with him."

"And I will gladly deal with that pest, and get our friends back." Seraphimon nodded. "We should probably start moving now- Agh!!!" A white sheet descended from the sky and consumed him, but not before he pushed T.K. out of the way. He disappeared momentarily.

"Seraphimon!" T.K. cried.

"Do you really think it is that easy to defeat me!?" Piedmon roared from the large boulder overlooking everybody. "Do you think a mere mega could defeat me?"

"Of course!" Sakuyamon yelled back at him. "What else could!?" Piedmon rolled his eyes, and then jumped behind the rock.

"Everyone pull together!" Matt ordered.

"No separate, if we're all together then he'll get every one of us." Tai reasoned.

"But-!" Before Matt could offer a rebuttal Piedmon appeared right behind him and was about to throw a white sheet over the boy.

"No!" T.K. jumped into his brother and knocked the older boy out of the way just as the sheet descended and consumed the brave eight year old.

"T.K.!!!!" Tears swelled in Matt's eyes.

"You bastard! Terra Force!" WarGreymon fired an energy sphere at their opponent.

"Spirit Strike!" Sakuyamon summoned four fox spirits and ordered them to collide with Piedmon.

"Celestial Arrow!" Ophanimon used her javelin to form a bow and fired an energy arrow at the monster. Piedmon puffed his chest out and let all three attacks collide with him while Tai and Rika dragged Matt away from the situation. The smoke cleared a minute later, and Piedmon still stood there unharmed.

"I am not a mere mega you fools," Piedmon breathed in the smoke as if it were fresh mountain air. "I am an ultimate mega, a thousand times the highest power level of the strongest mega."

"An… ultimate mega?" Tai gulped.

"Yes boy, the second most powerful level of digimon." He smirked.

"Second-most?" Rika stuttered.

"What's the most?" Kari whined.

"Now if I told you that, the game would be no fun now would it. You'll have to find out for yourselves."

**"Tsunomon, warp digivolve to… MetalGarurumon!"** The armored wolf pounced on the clown and kept him pinned to the ground. "Run now! I'll hold him off!"

"MetalGarurumon no!" Matt ordered. "I can't lose you too!"

"Go!" He roared, and a second later the boy felt himself being picked up by WarGreymon and next to Tai. Then he, Sakuyamon holding Rika, and Ophanimon holding Kari bolted from the scene.

"MetalGarurumon! T.K.!" Matt called in futility in the air as they raced away.

"What do we do now!?" Rika cried to Tai.

"We have to get off of the wasteland cap and find SaberLeomon. He's the only one who can help us stop Piedmon now." Tai said determinedly.

"Listen Tai, I know he's our friend but going to SaberLeomon would just put him in more danger than it's worth."

"What do you mean old friend?" Tai inquired.

"Agh!!!" Kari squeeled. Tai looked to his right to see her and Ophanimon being consumed by a white sheet and disappearing.

"No! Kari!!!!" Tai literally cried in futility.

"Hold them!" WarGreymon instructed Sakuyamon while giving her Tai and Matt and then spun around so that he was flying backwards. There, he could see Piedmon following far behind. "Terra Force! Terra Force! Terra Force!" WarGreymon fired three blasts at the demon and then turned back around. "We'll go to the castle. We can hide there and escape when we need to."

"We can't hide, he'll find us!" Rika opposed.

"If we try and make it to the mountain territory, he'll get us for sure!" WarGreymon then grabbed Sakuyamon's arm and flew towards the castle, before Piedmon materialized right in front of hm. "Agh!" He stopped short and narrowly avoided a white sheet coming towards him.

"Terra Force!" He fired the blast at Piedmon. The close proximity of them forced Sakuyamon and WarGreymon to the ground to avoid the intense heat.

"Bravo." They heard Piedmon clapping behind them, and turned around. Fortunately, they weren't far from the castle. "But your efforts are pointless."

"We'll see about that: Terra Force!" WarGreymon fired the blast at him.

"Aw, how sad that he fires at nobody." Said somebody behind them. WarGreymon, Sakuyamon, and the three humans then jumped around to see Piedmon over there.

"How do you move so fast?" WarGreymon sighed.

"I don't." Said Piedmon, to their right. The five flipped their heads from the two Piedmon's in utter confusion.

"You can duplicate yourself?"

"Oh, how perceptive." Piedmon three laughed from behind them. Soon they noticed that a field of ten Piedmon had surrounded them.

"We'll never make it out of this." Rika whimpered.

"Yes we will. Talisman Sphere!" Sakuyamon developed a barrier around Rika, Tai, Matt, and WarGreymon, and then smacked it with her sphere so that it started bowling towards the castle.

"Run with it! Go!" Sakuyamon demanded.

"Sakuyamon, no!" Rika whined, but soon she was scooped up by WarGreymon, who had also grabbed Tai and Matt, and was now running with the ball so that it acted like a wheel and smashed through the row of Piedmon (although most of them jumped out of the way, they seemed much more interested in Sakuyamon. WarGreymon then smashed through the castle doors, the ball faded away, and he closed them.

"How brave of you." One of the Piedmon smiled. "If only it mattered."

"It does matter! WarGreymon will find a way to defeat you!" Sakuyamon snapped at him as she found herself surrounded by 20 Piedmon.

"Oh, but you see," All of them said simultaneously, "That's what's so beautiful about it. If WarGreymon had sacrificed himself instead of you, then you would have a chance. But by you sacrificing yourself instead of him, you have sealed all of your fates! Ha ha ha!" They bellowed.

"What are you talking about!?" Sakuyamon cried.

"It's all part of the game my dear." The forward most one smiled, and then they all threw a white cloth over Sakuyamon, and enjoyed her scream.

***

Kumbhiramon had been waiting to see SaberLeomon for hours, which irritated him down to the very core. He didn't mind the waiting itself. SaberLeomon was a very busy digimon who was in constant meetings with regional leaders of the resistance, and his time was precious. What Kumbhiramon did mind however, was that he had been holding onto this most important information for the longest time, and didn't feel comfortable holding onto it for much longer. That's why, after SaberLeomon finally called the mouse in, he sighed a huge sigh of relief.

"Commander, I bring good and bad news." Kumbhiramon humbly bowed to the large saber toothed tiger with orange stripes and a lion-like mane.

"I assume the bad news has to do with why Indramon and Pajiramon aren't with you?" SaberLeomon inquired.

"They sacrificed themselves so that I could get this information to you." Kumbhiramon nodded.

"I am truthfully sorry. They were fine soldiers and good digimon. I am not pleased with their loss. But if you bring me good news, then perhaps it is all worth it."

"I assure you sir, it is. First, let me start off by saying that the Evil Partners have been destroyed."

"That is most wonderful."

"Second, let me give you this parchment." He pulled the folded paper out of his armor and handed it to SaberLeomon, who unfolded it to see a map of Spiral Mountain. "That reveals the location of every one of the evil tamer's bases."

"This is excellent Kumbhiramon, I am thrilled. The entire digital world will be thrilled." SaberLeomon had a wide grin on his face.

"That is not my best news sir." Kumbhiramon smiled.

"Oh, then what is?"

"You see sir, when Pajiramon and Indramon sacrificed themselves so that I could get this information to you, I ran into a group of humans."

"You what? Who? And how did you survive?"

"Sir, I and our history knows them as Kari, Izzy, and Matt. The hero digidestined are back." SaberLeomon immediately pounced in front of the mouse (who was not frightened) and bellowed:

"You lie!"

"I don't sir! And the best part is, they've already defeated Zoe and Yolei and have forced them to collapse their territories, and they found out how to purge the dark needle out of the evil digidestined and have cured Joe Kido!" Kumbhiramon cheered, although SaberLeomon had barely listened to this last part.

"Where are they!?" SaberLeomon yelled.

"Sir-?" Kumbhiramon was confused about his leader's lack of enthusiasm.

"Kumbhiramon, this is most important!"

"They were headed to the city territory sir, to join up with the rest of their team and take on Kazu. But I assure you, they're the good guys."

"I know, I must warn them!" SaberLeomon then leaped over Kumbhiramon and raced towards the exit.

"Warn them about what sir?" Kumbhiramon inquired.

"Everything! Everything they don't know! Anything that could possibly do them harm! We cannot lose them again!" His voice faded as he raced out of the door.

***

"Rika come on!" Tai ordered the girl while trying to pull her down the hall.

"Sakuyamon…" Was all she could mutter.

"Rika, we have to move!" Tai ordered. Rika looked at him, and then shook off her shock.

"No, you do." She commanded.

"What?" Tai twisted his face.

"Look, I'm useless without Sakuyamon. You and WarGreymon need to get as far away from here as possible and get to SaberLeomon. I'll distract Piedmon so you can-"

"That's insane!" Matt bellowed.

"We're not leaving you here!" Tai opposed.

"Stop arguing with me and do it!" She ordered.

"Rika, we have to stick together," Tai began, but Rika cut him off once again.

"If I can distract Piedmon before he sees you again, then he'll have less of a chance of catching up with you. Don't argue with me about this."

"But-" Rika interrupted Tai this time by kissing him and then running towards the door. "Rika!" He called to her in futility.

"There's no choice, let's go!" WarGreymon grabbed his partner (and Matt) and started running up the stairs and through a door to more stairs, which winded around what they assumed was one of the bridge connected towers. "If I can get high enough I might be able to fly above Piedmon's radar." He reasoned.

"Agh!" They heard a girl sqeal. Tai winced, but resisted saying anything. WarGreymon kept running past many side doors and broke through the door at the end of the path to emerge at the top of the tower. He looked down to see the bridge connecting the two towers about halfway down.

"Okay, let's go." WarGreymon opened the shield on his back to use them as wings.

"Tsk tsk." Said a voice behind them. "You forgot to close the door; it led me right to you." WarGreymon pivoted on his heel to see Piedmon standing on top of the doorway that led down into the tower. "Not very smart for someone trying to escape."

"No…" WarGreymon murmured.

"Let's face it you three," He smiled, "There's nowhere to escape to now. I'll find you everywhere you go!" WarGreymon risked looking down the tower to see that hundreds of Piedmon were now climbing up it. "Just give up now and die with some dignity!" He then jumped off of the door and kicked WarGreymon in the chest, knocking him off of the tower. WarGreymon fell for what seemed like eternity with the two boys on his chest, until he fell onto the bridge with a crack.

"WarGreymon!" Tai shook his partner's collar, and fortunately the monster's eyes flickered open.

"Tai!" Matt shook his friend's shoulder, and the goggle head turned around to see Piedmon walking casually towards them.

"No!" WarGreymon jumped up and lunged at Piedmon, but the monster punched him in the face and the dramon fell to his knees.

"I guess we're just going to have to do this the hard way." Piedmon shook his head. "Nightmare Spell!" The sky then turned black. It was already night, but the boy's could immediately tell the difference. All the stars went out. The moon disappeared. The only light now came from the aura that Piedmon had around him, which was only enough to illuminate the four figure's immediate space.

"So you turned the lights out Piedmon, is that your big plan?" Tai snapped at the ultimate mega nervously, and then immediately gasped, for when he had spoken his voice squeaked. He looked at his body to see that he looked as if he were only eight years old. He turned his head to see Matt was the same way. WarGreymon was also no longer mega; he was Koromon, and had rolled in front of Tai in a seemingly defeated stance.

"I've turned you into children, is that enough?" Piedmon growled. "Do you give up now?"

"We'll never give up!" Koromon coughed. "Bubble Blow!" He fired the weak bubbles needlessly at Piedmon, who just brushed them away.

"Pathetic." Piedmon groaned.

"Bubble Blow!" Koromon fired another blast, which Piedmon again brushed away.

"Koromon, he's right, just give up. There's nothing left. We can't win." Tai cried.

"How can you say that?" Koromon demanded of his partner. "There's always hope! You're the digidestined!"

"That doesn't mean anything anymore Koromon, it is hopeless now." Piedmon watched happily as Tai slowly gave up.

"It's never hopeless! What about Kari? She needs you!"

"But I can't-"

"What happened to the guy I first met on File Island!? Do you remember him? He was willing to do anything and everything to find her! He never quit! Are _you_ going to!?"

"Uh…" Suddenly, the second half of the bridge (the part that only Matt was standing on) crumbled under his feet and Matt dropped down.

"Agh!" Before he was out of range, Tai lunged forward and caught the boy's arm.

"Please don't let go Tai!" Matt cried.

"Don't worry, I won't!" Tai replied.

"It's time to end this." Piedmon hissed, and then drew a sword from his back.

"Bubble Blow!" Koromon fired a blast which Piedmon sliced away.

"Tai, we can't give up." Matt cried. "My brother, I have to save him."

"Don't worry Matt, we won't. We'll fight him to the very end!"

"I don't even feel like bothering with turning you to key chains: Trump Sword!" Piedmon kicked Koromon away, and then swung his mighty sword down at Tai for the kill, who was only focused on pulling Matt back to his feet.

"Die!" Piedmon yelled in cold blood, and then his sword connected.

***

"Tai…" A voice spoke to the digidestined of courage from no direction in particular. Tai looked up to see that Matt, Koromon, and Piedmon were gone, and that he was just sitting in a white abyss.

"Where am I?" The 12 year old Tai asked the voice. "Who are you?"

"You know who I am." A second later, the form of an armored leopard man materialized a few feet away from him.

"Leopardmon?"

"Yes, I am speaking to your mind directly."

"But what about the others?"

"The others are fine. We are not in digital world time, we are speaking in a separate dimension all together."

"What dimension?"

"The dimension of the mind Tai. It is here that I can speak to you freely, for all the time that I need."

"How can you do that?"

"I will tell you later, but right now you need to know something before Piedmon kills you."

"But he already did, I heard his sword hit my back. I just didn't feel it yet because I'm here." Tai reasoned.

"No it hasn't. Piedmon has been momentarily stopped by a shield of your own courage, and Matt's friendship. But it will not last if you do not continue to keep the virtues of your friends alive."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean Tai, you're more connected to the digital world than you know, and I will be happy to explain it to you, but before I can do that, you must defeat Piedmon."

"But why can't you just tell me right here? And how am I supposed to defeat Piedmon? He's invincible."

"No he is not." Leopardmon stated coldly. "He was defeated once before, by my brethren, the Royal Knights."

"But how are we supposed to defeat him now? The Royal Knights aren't here!"

"Are you sure about that Tai?" Leopardmon inquired mysteriously, and then faded away.

"Wait!" Tai called, but a second later he felt his knees touch concrete again, and his hands weight down with the weight of Matt in his hands.

"Tai!" Matt called to the boy. "What happened?"

"What did you do!?" Piedmon demanded. Tai looked up to see that Piedmon's sword was inches away from him, but the symbol imbedded on the crest of courage was hovering in the air and blocking Piedmon from finishing his attack. "This isn't acceptable!" He pulled another sword out of its sheath with his other hand and slammed down at Tai. This time, the sword was blocked by the symbol on the crest of friendship. "No!"

"Come on Matt." Tai pulled his friend back onto the bridge, and the now 12 year olds stood to their feet.

"How did you break my spell!? What is happening?" Piedmon raved.

"What's happening Piedmon," Tai glared at him, "Is that we're not giving up anymore. We're going to defeat you no matter what."

"And just how to you expect to do that?" Piedmon laughed. "Are you going to try and cut off the circulation to my brain by strapping those ridiculous goggles to my head?"

"I'm serious Piedmon!" Tai barked. "We're going to defeat you, with my courage and Kari's light!"

"We'll defeat you with my friendship and T.K.'s hope!" Matt chimed in. He wasn't sure exactly what was going on so he followed Tai's lead. Piedmon gave them confused/mortified looks and began to back away, putting the swords back in their sheaths. Then, one of the key chains on his belt began to shake. Piedmon looked down in horror as the MetalGarurumon chain snapped off of his belt and flew into the sphere of courage and friendship symbols that had formed around Tai, Matt, and Koromon. A second later MetalGarurumon was revived and stood on the bridge with his partner.

"No!" he cried as Koromon re-evolved to WarGreymon.

"We're done pointlessly fighting you to no gain for either of us!" MetalGarurumon roared.

"It ends now!" WarGreymon yelled.

"You're right, it does end," Piedmon smiled nervously, "For you!" He pulled out a white sheet and tossed it over the sphere of symbols. It landed on it and a surge of energy ensued before the sheet vaporized and the symbols blended together in a bright light that stung Piedmon. "No!!!"

**R-O-Y-A-L D-I-G-I-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N**

**"Tai!"**

**"Matt!"**

**"WarGreymon!"**

**"MetalGarurumon!"**

**"Royal Digivolve to…"**

"Nooooo!!!!!!!" Piedmon rushed wildly with his swords drawn, hell bent on destroying the figures within the sphere before they did anything.

**"Omnimon!" **The Royal Knight burst out of the orb and knocked Piedmon into the wall of the castle tower. Piedmon gaped at the shining white armor of the combination of the four souls.

"Not you…" He gasped. "Anyone but you…"

Omnimon just glared at him and said: "Hello old friend."


	55. Digidestined United

11 chapters left. Big ones too. Just to be clear: T.K.'s partner and the leader of the Royal Knights are not the same digimon. They are two different Seraphimons. Also, yes, the word you see in here is from Harry Potter. It was an awesome word so I turned it into a verb. If you don't know what it means look up book six of the decent but way too popular for its own good series.

**Chapter Fifty Five: Digidestined United**

**The Digital World, Hundreds of Years Ago**

"Strike of the Seven Stars!" Seraphim fired a heavenly attack at the last resisting dark digimon, who collapsed after being hit. The digimon, an Ogremon, had foolishly jumped at the mega while thinking that he had the rest of Myotismon's army to back him up, but he was sorely mistaken. Seraphim obliterated the top half of the monster, and once the second half hit the ground, it quickly deteriorated. Seraphim then turned to the last evil monster, a lanky winged armor form of Ex-Veemon named Gargoylemon, who was breathing heavily while leaning against the wall of the only building in the deep canyon. Instead of destroying him however, Seraphim walked calmly towards the monster and spoke. "Tell me where Myotismon is, and I will spare you."

"I will never tell." Gargoylemon growled between breaths.

"I admire your conviction, but in order for this war to end, Myotismon and I must meet face to face. You are standing in the way of that, and while I won't like it I will do whatever it takes to get that information out of you."

"Do your worst." Gargroylmon snapped after sliding to a seated position against the wall.

"Very well. You brought this on yourself." Seraphim then placed his right hand calmly against the gargoyle's lower arm, and grabbed his middle finger.

"What are you doing?" Gargoylemon inquired.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell me where Myotismon is?" Gargoylemon didn't answer, so Seraphim snapped the nightmare soldier's middle finger up and broke it.

"Agh!!!" Gargoylemon moaned.

"Tell me where Myotismon is." Seraphim stated calmly.

"Never!" Gargoylemon screamed (although it was mostly in tune with the intense pain he was feeling).

"Then I'm sorry." Seraphim snapped Gargoylemon's ring finger.

"Agh!" Gargoylemon gasped.

"You only have three fingers on each hand. Tell me where Myotismon is or I'll soon move up to your wrist."

"You might as well kill me." Gargoylemon spat.

"Please don't make me do this." Seraphim said somberly.

"Anything that causes you pain gives me pleasure." Gargoylemon hissed.

"Very well." He snapped the monster's thumb. Gargoylemon bellowed again, and then fell mostly silent (he was still breathing heavily).

"You'll never get the information you want out of me." Gargoylemon sputtered.

"Indeed I shan't." Seraphim agreed. He then stood up and began to walk away.

"What, that's it? You're not going to torture me some more? You're not even going to try and kill me?"

"Now why in Yggdrasil's name would I do that?" Seraphim asked calmly. "I am not a monster, and I refuse to do more than what is necessary. I snapped three of your fingers and you still didn't talk. You obviously are very sure of your abilities. I know when someone will and will not talk, and you will not. So I'll leave you be. And why would I not kill you? Because that's what a Royal Knight does. He leaves a now defenseless digimon alone."

"You are a fool."

"And you are a coward."

"And the both of you are dead!" An evil voice cheered and then threw two red lightning bolts at Seraphim and Gargoylemon. Seraphim dodged, but Gargoylemon did not have the capacity to move and was obliterated.

"You would kill your own man?" Seraphim growled at Myotismon, who had just levitated into the clearing. "Why would you do such a thing? He was loyal to you! He was not going to talk!"

"It was fun." Myotismon reasoned.

"You are a monster." Seraphim growled. "But a stupid one at that. Why would you show yourself to someone obviously more superior than yourself who wished to kill you?"

"I just feel lucky." Myotismon smiled. "Besides, this war has gotten rather boring. That's why I took a little trip down into the digi-core and picked up a few new tricks, because I heard you were looking for me."

"Into the digital core?" Seraphim scoffed. "That's impossible. There are no avenues into the core. It is too dangerous!"

"If you really believe that, then why don't you put it to the test?" Myotismon laughed.

"I've been searching for you for the past two years. Do you really wish to fight me?" Seraphim asked warily.

"Yes, I do."

"You know you will die."

"I know, but I feel bored." He smirked. "I need something new to do, in life that is."

"I don't know what you're planning Myotismon, but I won't let you get the best of me. Strike of the Seven Stars!"

"Crimson Lightning!" Myotismon fired an electrical strike and leaped out of the way, for as he correctly anticipated Seraphim's attack decimated his own lightning blade and destroyed the rock behind Myotismon's previous location.

"Is this how we're going to play this game? I punch; you dodge?" Seraphim growled.

"You bet." Myotismon smiled.

"Very well then, Strike of the Seven Stars!"

***

They had been fighting for two days. Most of the time the battle consisted of Seraphim punching, slicing, and blasting at Myotismon, who would dodge the attacks and move in to counter. Seraphimon would then either jump out of the way or confront Myotismon head on for a physical attack. The battle seemed to be going nowhere: except Myotismon was getting tired. Seraphim had no problem with this battle, but Myotismon was at a severe disadvantage. He was only an ultimate, and Seraphim was a Royal Knight: the most powerful Royal Knight. It wasn't long before Myotismon didn't have much energy to continue fighting anymore. Once he had started to show signs of exhaustion, Seraphim then picked up his efforts.

"Strike of the Seven Stars!" Seraphim fired his seven orbs of energy again at Myotismon's left, who lunged sideways to avoid it. "Hand of Fate!" He fired his champion attack, this time at Myotismon's right. Myotismon was pinned in between the two blasts, and then jumped up into the air to avoid getting hit. "Strike of the Seven Stars!" Seraphim fired one more burst of energy above Myotismon, who was now trapped by all three attacks, which were heading towards him from opposite directions. Myotismon had no choice but to shroud himself under his defensive cape as all three attacks hit him. Fortunately it worked, to a point. Myotismon was thrown backwards a few dozen feet after the attack with his cape exploded. The vampire jumped to his feet to prepare against Seraphim's next attack and was met with… nothing. The seraph was gone.

"Where are you?" Myotismon growled loudly.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Seraphim's voice echoed across the canyon.

"This deception you practice, it is not very characteristic of a Royal Knight." Myotismon antagonized his enemy.

"Sometimes even the most heroic must use deception to counteract evil." Seraphim stated.

"Is that what helps you sleep at night?" Myotismon chuckled.

"No, this is: Exalibur!" The sound of a sword energizing pinged through the air, and Myotismon did a complete 360 to gain the position of his opponent, but the angel was nowhere to be found.

"Come on coward, face me!" Myotismon threw his arms out so that his chest was puffed up in a dramatic stance. His tired lungs were heaving the monster's rib cage up and down definitively. The vampire did not have much left in him. "I can take you!" Suddenly he heard an explosion of dirt and rock behind him and twisted around to see that Seraphim had smashed out from under the ground with his sword drawn behind him.

"I doubt that." He stated coldly, and then plunged his blade into the center of Myotismon's torso. Myotismon gave a pain filled scream and then lost all of the power in his limbs and collapsed onto Seraphim's arm. Seraphim then grabbed the dying monster's neck and pulled him off of his rapier so that his body slumped to the ground. "You are done. No longer will you continue to bring a vicious and needless war to our world."

"Needlesss?" Myotismon rebutted weakly. "You let the digimon live in a survival of the fittest world, where we don't have the ability to live in peace or advance at all except in the few villages that inhabit the continents. I tried to change that."

"It was the people's choice to live that way," Seraphim argued, "I tried to help them form a society, but as you can see that just made them flock to you."

"You didn't try to form a society," Myotismon wheezed, "You let the digimon's lives become meaningless so that you and your knights could keep your position of power and live a life of luxury."

"I didn't force them to become something they didn't want because I'm not a dictator!" Seraphim snapped at the monster. "And a life of luxury? We have not one lavish item except the castle in which we oversee the digital world. We live a Spartan life my friend."

"But the digimon still live a life of hardship, and even if this war was not going on that would be true."

"I gave them every opportunity to better themselves," Seraphim glared at the monster, "I created towns all over Server, Drive, and Folder. I turned File Island into a sanctuary. The digimon who didn't want that life turned to you. The digimon who did, but didn't know how to change themselves in order to do it, joined me."

"And therein lies the problem. You want the digimon to change. I don't."

"How are they supposed to form a society if they cannot change their ways? A society is dominated by law and order, and the digimon do not understand that. If they ever want to live in one then they have to learn that complete freedom is not possible, for it takes away the freedom of others."

"I guess we can't resolve these differences, can we?" Myotismon scoffed.

"We will." Seraphim said with conviction. "Or rather I, my soldiers, and your army will. We will find a way to live in peace and harmony now that you are gone. And unlike you, we will not punish the other side for standing against us."

"We shall see."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means what it means."

"Stop speaking like that Myotismon. Say what you mean and nothing else."

"Fine then. I'm not going anywhere."

"In case you haven't noticed, you are inches away from death; you are not in a position to do anything right now."

"I told you: I've been to the digital core, I know things."

"Ha! No one has ever been to the digital core. It is an impossible task."

"Ah yes, it is. But once you accomplish it, the rewards are amazing." At this, Myotismon's data finally started to fade away, but to Seraphim's surprise the data collected together as a dark mist instead of separating into particles that were caught by the wind. The mist began to gather above Myotismon in a formless cloud.

"What is this?" Seraphim demanded as the last of Myotismon's data joined the cloud.

"I told you Seraphim," Myotismon's voice sounded from inside the cloud, "I learned things. I've learned the ability to corrupt other digimon by force instead of persuasion. I've learned to reduce a digimon's age in order to weaken them. I've learned to multiply myself. I've learned how to horcrux my soul. And most important of all, I've learned how to, upon my death, inhabit the body of the one that killed me!" At this, the cloud rushed into Seraphim's armor and the seraph began convulsing in pain.

"Agh!" The leader of the Royal Knights tried to resist the strange process that was happening to him, but was quickly losing control of his body. He fell to his knees, gripped his head due to the pounding headache that had formed, and was forced to wait for the storm to be over. Within a few seconds, Seraphim's body had changed into a corrupted demon form of his former self.

"From now on I shall be ShadowSeraphimon." Seraphim laughed with Myotismon's voice. "And my first order of business will be to dispose of the rest of the Royal Knights." He began to walk forward to get used to his new form. He stretched his legs, flexed his fingers and arms, and threw a few punches into the air. When he was satisfied with everything, he stretched his bat wings and was preparing to fly off into the air, when he heard a voice in his head.

"I won't let you do this…" The seraph said weakly to the monster inhabiting him.

"Oh, you're still in there?" ShadowSeraphimon scoffed, "We're going to have to do something about that. I'm sure I know something that'll get you out of my head."

"I'm not just in your head…" Seraphim struggled to say, "I'm in your mind!" ShadowSeraphimon doubled over in pain as Seraphim fought to regain control.

"No! This body is mine!" ShadowSeraphimon screeched while he held his arms to his body to stop them from leaving his control.

"I can't push you out," Seraphim screamed in ShadowSeraphimon's head. "And I can't regain control of my body, but I can make it so that you won't ever see your plan to completion!"

"Give it up Seraphim, I have won!" ShadowSeraphimon groaned.

"No, you have not! I will merge our minds together, so that we will not be ShadowSeraphimon or Seraphim in this body, but a new entity that I can only hope will be more noble than you!"

"How do you know that he won't be worse?" ShadowSeraphimon's voice cracked.

"That's just a chance I'll have to take." Then, mysteriously, Seraphim fulfilled his promise and merged his mind with ShadowSeraphimon's, and they went through another form change. ShadowSeraphimon's body rippled, folded, and changed color until he resembled an evil clown.

**The Digital World, Now**

Omnimon was no clown. He was a knight. He was a Royal Knight. He was thin: too thin for a regular human. If he weren't a digimon, he would have fallen over due to the weight of his armor. But that was no problem for an ultimate mega. White form fitting armor covered his long and thin legs. Three yellow talons were on his armored feet. A white armored pelvic piece had yellow thorns on its hips. His form fitting chest piece had purple slashes merging from the outskirts to its center. He wore a white cape with a red interior. His head was covered by a white helmet with a long white horn on his forehead and long yellow horns on the back of his head. His arms were... WarGreymon's shield covered his left shoulder. MetalGarurumon's spikes covered the other. His left hand was shaped like WarGreymon's head. His right hand was shaped like MetalGarurumon's head.

Piedmon was terrified. First of all, light from the knight was quickly pushing away the intense darkness that Piedmon had created around them. It had tried to fight back, but Omnimon's force was obviously more powerful. Second, Piedmon obviously knew Omnimon from somewhere. Piedmon had never been as scared of an evolution as he was now. The look of absolute horror indicated that Piedmon and the Royal Knight were associated. Third, Omnimon was glaring at Piedmon. It was not like any glare anyone had ever given anyone else before. The look was more than anger. It was more than absolute hatred. It was a need for justice. It was a demand for justice. It was Omnimon's order to Piedmon that the long battle between them was about to come to an end, and Piedmon had the feeling that Omnimon was not going to be on the losing side; at least for now.

"O-O-Omni-mon, what a pleasant surprise." Piedmon stuttered.

"Don't talk." Omnimon barked. "I've had all I can stand of you. Enough damage has been done thanks to your malicious words and actions."

"N-now surely you d-don't think that-"

"I said shut up! Do you really think you can really weasel your way out of this? It was one thing when I couldn't remember who I was, but now I'm fully aware and I'm going to make you pay for what you have done!" Piedmon didn't speak for a second. He just stared up at his contemporary.

"Good luck trying." He finally hissed.

"Grey Sword!" Omnimon shoved his WarGreymon fist in front of Piedmon's head and a blade suddenly shot out of it. Piedmon's head was immediately severed and the monster disintegrated immediately. "I will not try; I will do it." The darkness around him then immediately vanished, as well as the light coming off of him from his evolution. He was now back on the half bridge in between the two towers of the evil digidestined's castle. A thousand Piedmon were hanging from the tower in front of him and all had a look of horrified shock on their face. When their leader had enclosed himself and the last remaining tamers within the dark aura they fully expected him to come out a second later with three new key chains or two dead bodies and some drifting data. But that was not what they saw; instead they were greeted with Omnimon, and Omnimon was angry.

"Supreme Cannon!" He flipped his MetalGarurumon arm up and a cannon protruded from the wolf-hand's mouth, which proceeded to obliterate the tower in front of him and sent all of the Piedmon falling onto the ground far below with bits and chunks of tower raining down on them. Once all hit the ground and the screams subsided, Omnimon looked down to see that half of the Piedmon were dead and all the rest were running away from the castle to regroup. "I don't think so." He growled and pulled his sword up to his shoulder. "Transcendent Sword!" He pulled the sword down to his hip with force and a giant shockwave burst from it, which slammed into the backs of the Piedmon and killed another half of the group. 250 Piedmon were now fleeing for their temporary lives. "Metal Wolf Claw!" He fired an icy stream from his MetalGarurumon hand which careened across the sky and smashed into the ground in front of the Piedmon. They all skidded to a halt and were prepared to jump another way, but Omnimon had other plans. "Terra Force!" With one arm (his WarGreymon arm) he formed the massive flame sphere and slammed it at the Piedmon, who were powerless to escape the fast ball as it engulfed most of them. About a dozen survived, and then Omnimon went physical. He jumped off of the bridge (which crumbled from the pressure) and landed in the center of the dazed Piedmon and slammed his sword into the ground, which created a shock wave that reverberated across the earth and knocked all of the Piedmon to their feet. He retracted it and then dove in on one of the Piedmon. It saw him coming and scrambled to his feet, but Omnimon was too fast and bashed his MetalGarurumon arm (with cannon retracted) into the back of the monster's skull, which imploded upon impact. The Piedmon lasted long enough to fall to the ground and let his grey matter pile out of the monster's brain (which the other Piedmon were repulsed and terrified by) before it vanished into a flurry of data. "Eleven more." Omnimon growled. The Piedmon looked at him in horror and tried to run, but Omnimon didn't even have to move to attack them. "Supreme Cannon!" This time he focused on each Piedmon individually, and fired a blast at each of their backs until there were only three left. Omnimon then ran with lightning speed towards the last three, retracted his cannon, and unleashed his sword. "Ayah!" He leaped into the air and slammed the sword into the back of one Piedmon's head. It dropped to the ground with a thud and Omnimon immediately went after the next one, who was stumbling across some rough terrain. Omnimon went so fast that it looked as if he was on all fours before spinning around and slicing the Piedmon in half at the waist and punching it in the spine. The Piedmon faded away and then Omnimon turned to the last Piedmon, the original, who was doubled over on the ground and panting heavily. Omnimon this time walked calmly over to the monster and retracted his sword. "So I was correct in assuming that when one of you feels pain, you all feel pain?" Omnimon asked darkly.

"Y-yes," He panted, "You were," Piedmon slowly struggled to his feet. "But I also get back all of the data that my dead copies leave behind, so I am back to my full strength."

"You divided your energy, I assumed as much." Omnimon shrugged.

"You made a mistake in killing us off in separate groups. Now that I'm at full strength there will be nothing to stop me from killing you…" He seemed to have gotten over his pain and was standing in a pre-attack pose.

"Piedmon, you were once one of the Royal Knights," Omnimon sighed, "And for that I'll give you the honor of dying with some dignity. Draw your weapon." He instructed. "We will duel to see who is worthy to survive."

"Well I assure you," Piedmon grabbed the hilt of one of his swords and drew it forward, "It will be me, no matter how powerful you think you are."

"We shall see." Omnimon extended his Grey Sword. "Begin."

"Ayah!" Piedmon immediately struck at Omnimon with his trump sword. Omnimon pulled up his grey sword then to block and once they collided he jumped away to get into an attack stance.

"You should know better than to attack first," Omnimon shook his head, "It offers little advantages."

"Don't you dare presume to speak superior to me," Piedmon growled, "Do you forget who I am? I was your leader!"

"And you betrayed us." Omnimon glared. "The only one I recognize as our leader now is Alphamon."

"Alphamon was a fool!" Piedmon lunged at Omnimon again, who this time jumped into the air and flipped over Piedmon to slash at him from behind. Piedmon spun around as well and barely blocked the much thicker sword before it plunged into his back. "He took the cowards way to defeating me."

"You gave him no other choice." Omnimon flipped to his feet and threw his arm forward for another attack, which Piedmon blocked and then tried to counter. He let Omnimon come in closer with the strike and then spun for an attack on the monster's shoulder. Omnimon tensed his arm so that instead of striking the gaps in his armor, Piedmon's sword bounced off of his WarGreymon shield. "If he were to have tried to straight up kill you, you would have possessed him, and he would not allow that."

"Alphamon was a prideful fool who wanted to steal my throne. He only did what he did because it gave him the gratification of taking something from me."

"It was never a throne before!" Omnimon bellowed and came in for a sword attack. As soon as Piedmon raised his arm to defend, Omnimon dropped to one knee and sweeped his leg at Piedmon's ankles. The clown jumped out of the way just in time but then had to contend with Omnimon jumping off of the ground and plunging his sword right at him. Piedmon allowed the sword to touch his side and used it to help himself spiral away and come in for a slash at Omnimon's right. Omnimon ducked and then leaped away so that once Piedmon landed, he could charge at the monster. Piedmon dodge rolled and then pulled his sword in front of his crouched body in a defensive stance.

"It was always a throne to me, even before I merged."

"That's a lie," Omnimon argued, "Seraphim was the bravest and most compassionate creature on this planet. The day he considered himself king of the digimon is the day Eric stops making bad jokes."

"How would you know? Seraphim is a part of me, not you. All you have are two pathetic children who lucked out in having one of the councilmen as a partner."

"You will leave Taichi and Yamato out of this," Omnimon ordered, "We are battling as knights and if you want to continue battling that way then you will let us discuss our own issues, not theirs."

"Very well then, what _issues_ would you like to discuss?"

"Do not mock me Piedmon. You will not like the consequences." Omnimon had not noticed that Piedmon had been inching towards his enemy this whole time with a white cloth hidden in his palm.

"Consequences, you know nothing of consequences!" Piedmon bellowed and then threw his arm forward so that the sheet spiraled towards the knight. Omnimon jumped backwards and struck his Grey Sword forward so that the sheet just caught on the blade. He then extended his cannon and hid it behind the cloth, so that when he threw it to the side Piedmon was shocked to see a blaster aiming straight for him.

"Supreme Cannon!" Omnimon fired a blue energy blast at Piedmon, who jumped to the side to avoid being obliterated by the monster's beam. Omnimon then dashed forward with his sworn drawn to strike at Piedmon's exposed head, but the monster cheated and drew another sword. Omnimon slashed down on scissor crossed blades, which Piedmon used to push Omnimon back and then used both blades paralleled to slash at Omnimon's stomach. "Agh!" Omnimon was thrown back onto the ground and had to clutch his stomach to try and suppress the pain.

"I spent three hundred years festering in the dark plane, because the people who I thought were my friends betrayed me and literally STABBED ME IN THE BACK! You know nothing of consequences. I will kill you know, I will have my revenge, and there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that you can do to defeat me. I am too powerful." Piedmon tightened his grip on both swords and set them parallel to each other, and then swung down at Omnimon.

"So am I!" Omnimon threw his arm forward and blocked the swords, then jumped to his feet and punched Piedmon in the face. The clown was so tired that he did not have the willpower to resist. Instead he scrambled away from Omnimon and collapsed onto his back. "I don't think you understand Piedmon: I am not just a combination of MetalGarurumon and WarGreymon, nor am I just part human. I am a combination of all of the hope and friendship of all the digidestined. I am not just Omnimon; I am Sakuyamon. I am Takeru. I am HiAndromon. All of my friends that you tried to destroy I keep their faith alive, and I will not let their trust in me die! Their lives are counting on me, and I will save them!"

"You don't have a choice!" Piedmon jumped to his feet and launched a sword strike from both left and right in an attempt to overwhelm Omnimon.

"Yes I do!" Omnimon thrust his sword arm forward so that the completely exposed Piedmon piled right into it. His stomach was pierced and he dropped his swords as pain bolted throughout his body. "There's a special place in Hell for things like you."

"I told you Omega... you don't have a choice. Your friends will die even if you kill me..." Piedmon coughed.

"And why is that?"

"Because they are back Omega. They are back and now there is nothing you can do to stop them. They are back and as long as they are alive, I will never die either. You will lose." Piedmon answered.

Omnimon didn't say anything. A mixed look of shock and anger was on his face, so he extended his Garuru Cannon, raised it to be level with Piedmon's head, and fired. "Supreme Cannon!"


	56. Tabula Rasa

I tried to include as much information as I could in this chapter. If you see a question that didn't get answered, then e-mail/review me and I'll try to correct the problem. Otherwise, enjoy.

**Chapter Fifty Six: Tabula Rasa**

Omnimon retracted his sword. Piedmon's headless body crumpled to the ground. Omnimon stood to his feet, retracted his cannon, and stared at the body of his former leader for the next few minutes. For that time, he could hear something breathing behind him, but he did not care. He knew who it was.

"How did you know he would not take over your body?" Leopardmon inquired of the councilman.

"Because there was no point." Omnimon stated plainly without looking back at the other Royal Knight. "He will find some other way to come back without having to give up his body. He always does."

"Or at least, he always does now." Leopardmon reasoned.

"I feel like all of that was redundant Leopardmon." Omnimon sighed, ignoring his friends comment. "He will just find some way to come back to life. Even if I kill him again and again, he will always come back."

"It wasn't all redundant," Leopardmon tried to reassure his friend, "What do you think "they're back" means?"

"What do you think it means?" Omnimon asked rhetorically.

"It could mean anything," Leopardmon reasoned, "Just because Piedmon said it was true doesn't mean that the Dark Masters are back."

"He was sent to the dark plane," Omnimon growled, "He said he was working for someone, connect the dots."

"He could have been lying."

"There was no reason to lie!" Omega snapped. "They are back Leopardmon, and now we aren't even together anymore." The knight sighed, "Our former leader is not on our side, our real leader is dead, and in case you haven't noticed only about six of the digidestined have a partner that is one of us, besides Tai and Yamato."

"I noticed." Leopardmon nodded while staring down at Piedmon's (strangely) still together body. "But even though we aren't as united as before, we have something that we did not have when we faced them the first time."

"And what is that?" Omnimon scoffed. Leopardmon didn't answer. Instead, he walked over to Piedmon, pulled Rika Nonaka's key chain off of his belt, and placed it in Omnimon's palm. "We have them." The dual monster said to himself.

"Yes, we do. And we are more powerful with them than by ourselves. We may not be fully united, but with the humans at our side we have just as much power." Leopardmon spoke.

"Let's dismantle Spiral Mountain," Omnimon breathed, "I want to talk about this at sea level." The monster then picked off all of the key chains that were on Piedmon's waist, from Sakuyamon to Agumon Hakase, and placed them in a small brown pouch that materialized on his hip. Then, Piedmon did an even more curious thing and faded away once all of the key chains had been removed from his body. Both Royal Knights walked back to the castle (which was in a shambles) and pushed the front doors open. They passed the two stair cases and walked straight for the door that led into the back of the front floor. Omnimon knocked it open to reveal a long hallway with many doors. Both knights then walked down the hallway and banged the doors down until they found the control room.

"Here." Leopardmon led his partner into a room full of panels and flashing buttons. The two soldiers looked around until they saw a fiberglass box over one of the panels that housed six buttons of various colors. Omnimon ignored the key hole that obviously opened the box and smashed it open with his Garuru hand. Leopardmon then pushed all seven buttons (they did not know which was which territory, although the colors provided some clue) and soon heard the whine of mechanics deep within Spiral Mountain setting to work. The last three territories were crumbling, and soon the wasteland cap would be returned to ground level. "We should destroy this castle after the cap hits the ground, so that no one can re-create Spiral Mountain."

"I agree," Omnimon said softly. "You must tell them everything." He then said surprisingly.

"I'm sorry?" Leopardmon inquired.

"The digidestined, the digimon. You must tell them everything about the digital world. You must tell them about the six planes, about the trinity, about the Dark Masters, about Piedmon, everything. I know that you did not want to interfere with destiny before, but this time I am afraid it is not possible to avoid intervening any longer. If we are to have any chance of defeating the Dark Masters, then you will have to reveal our entire history to them."

"I understand," Leopardmon nodded after listening intently. "I will honor your wishes. But what will you do?"

"I am going to degenerate back to Tai, Yamato, Koromon, and Tsunomon. The humans will not remember anything about this, but Koromon and Tsunomon should. Take everyone to Babamon; she will heal our transformed friends."

"I understand. Then I will tell them of the Dark Masters and we will proceed from there."

"You will ask them find the Dark Masters and destroy them. They will not refuse."

"Of course."

"A gate to the dark plane might be open. You must find and seal that as well, just in case."

"I will do this."

"Don't let our allies come with you. They have done enough. They do not need to be put in any more danger."

"I will not let them." Leopardmon nodded.

***

"Ugh…" Renamon awoke from her rest with a small headache. She felt herself lying on soft grass, and pushed herself up to a seated position, where the full effect of the headache took on. Renamon rubbed her eyes in an effort to open them, still confused as to how she got to where she was. It slowly came to her that as Sakuyamon she had been fighting Piedmon, and he had captured her and somehow turned her into one of those key chains. That was her last memory. All she knew after that was that she was asleep for a long time, and then she was on the grass. Once she forced her eyes open, she found that she was indeed on some grass with all of her friends; the digidestined, their partners, and their allies. Rika was resting comfortably a few feet from her. Renamon thought that she might be in captivity somewhere, but she did not have the strength to deal with that thought so decided to push it into the back of her mind. Renamon then stared out into the field around her friends and saw that there were many digimon gathered around them. It occurred to Renamon that she might be in some alternate universe and these were all the victims of Piedmon's magic, but that all changed when a small and furry red digimon hopped out of the crowd and stopped right in front of Renamon.

"Hey there, nice to see you again." Elecmon smiled.

"Elecmon!" Renamon's system was jolted with adrenaline as she jumped to her feet and scooped up her old friend in a huge hug. "Where in Yggdrasil's name where you?"

"I was around." Elecmon chuckled.

"Around!? You disappeared a hundred years ago!" Renamon exclaimed as she released her old mentor from her death grip.

"I didn't go anywhere young one." Elecmon smiled at the taller but younger monster.

"Didn't go anywhere, what do you-" Before she could continue her rant, Elecmon shushed her.

"Perhaps you should wait for my explanation until the rest of our friends wake up." He nodded to the group of seven humans and ten digimon behind her, who were now stirring awake from her yells.

"Agh… my head." Tentomon groaned while he and Eric sat up.

"Where are we?" Kari inquired as Salamon shook off her pain and helped her partner to an upright position.

"Did we win?" Terriermon asked groggily.

"You bet we did." Tsunomon stated with pride as he hopped into Matt's lap.

"Tai! Tai!" Koromon hopped excitedly in the goggle head's lap, who irritatingly pushed the monster to the side as he tried to fight the pounding headache that was pulsing through him.

"What the hell happened?" Tai gasped.

"What, you mean you don't remember?" Koromon cocked his head (body). "Not even the battle? I was sure you'd remember the battle."

"What battle?" Tai asked.

"Aw, fine. Don't worry. Elecmon will explain everything to you." Koromon rolled his eyes.

"Elecmon?" Terriermon questioned.

"Elecmon!" Salamon cheered as she laid eyes on her caretaker. Then she, Terriermon, Tentomon, and Patamon all rushed to hug the monster. He squeezed them tightly and then released the estatic digimon.

"I'm so confused." Datamon garbled as Tekkamon pulled the monster up to his feet.

"I'm glad you're all awake," Elecmon sighed happily, "Now we can begin."

"Begin what?" Patamon inquired.

"Where have you been Elecmon?" Renamon insisted.

"Where are Joe and Kazu?" Kari mumbled to herself.

"I told you Renamon, I haven't gone anywhere." Elecmon shook his head. "I've been watching over you this whole time, just from a distance. I didn't want to interfere with your growth as you were partnered with the digidestined."

"How would you know that we were going to be partnered with humans?" Terriermon asked. "And what do you mean "from a distance?"

"I _mean_," Elecmon emphasized before a white light washed over him and he grew to the shape and form of Leomon. "I've always been watching over you in one form or another." He nodded.

"Holy crap!" Tentomon was jolted with surprise and fell onto his back, and had to be helped back to his feet by Eric, who had crawled behind the monster.

"You're Leomon?" Rika inquired. "Renamon's Elecmon is Leomon?" She asked the lion.

"Yes, whether I was Leomon, GrapLeomon, or SaberLeomon, I have always been helping you from the sidelines. Whether it was commanding an army to oppose the evil digidestined while you developed your skills, bringing a digi-egg from Primary Village to its owner (he looked to Tai), or organizing a resistance, I have always made sure that you were supported. I just could not help you directly, for that would have fought against destiny and re-created the situation with the evil tamers." As he spoke, the rest of the destined and digimon took a second to appreciate that there was a field of digimon staring at them from all sides.

"Interfere with destiny?" T.K. asked.

"Perhaps I have not gone fully into an explanation." Leomon sighed. "You see, I only took these forms so that I could work on many levels to help the digital world. You might think of me as Elecmon or Leomon, but you should know me as…" Another light came over his body, and he morphed and folded until an armor covered feline stood in his place," Leopardmon." No one spoke. They just gaped at the Royal Knight who had revealed himself to be some of the group's biggest allies.

"Are you going to tell us what the hell is going on?" Eric finally spilled.

"Yes, I will." Leopardmon nodded. "But first, we must tend to something. There are a few allies of ours who need our help." He waved them all to their feet and began walking towards the crowd, who quickly parted so they could get through. The digidestined were filled with questions but quickly reacted and jumped to follow him. They marched through the crowd for a few minutes until they found that themselves in a forest, filled with much less digimon, which four of the destined recognized.

"This is Shichiri Forest." Tai observed.

"That is correct, and Shichiri Village is just up ahead." Leopardmon answered.

"So is the digital world back to normal?" T.K. inquired.

"Yes. Spiral Mountain is no more." Leopardmon nodded, and then fell back into silence. They walked through one of the gates of Shichiri and found themselves in a town with buildings covered in digimon, all cheering at the destined's arrival. Leopardmon waved them off and fought a path to the town center, where they found a familiar face standing in front waiting for them.

"Dinohumon?" Kari gasped.

"Hello tamers, it is good to see you again." The champion nodded to them. Tai, Eric, Kari, and T.K. reflected back to when Cherrymon and Stingmon attacked Shichiri Village, and the former had destroyed Dinohumon and absorbed his digi-core so that the champion could not come back to life. "Follow me please." He pulled the leather tarp that was the door to the side and walked in. Leopardmon led the others into the room (MetalTyrannomon poked his eye in after everyone had entered) where they were greeted by the sight of Babamon, who was standing in front of the seated pit. In that pit were six humans and six digimon all in hand cuffs. Some digimon were standing in the back of the room, staring with hatred at the evil digidestined in the circle.

"I did not want to free them until our friends could see how the hero digidestined would react." Babamon nodded to her seventeen allies, who all bowed respectively but decided not to make a big fuss out of it. The digidestined and digimon then looked at the twelve in the circle, who all had remorseful looks on their faces.

"Joe and Kazu are on our side now," Said Rika to the monsters behind the group, "They don't need to be locked up."

"None of them do." Tai said boldly and walked past Babamon to Ken, who was standing in the front of the group. "Let them go." This drew some gasps from the back of the room and odd looks from the front, but Dinohumon then walked up and unlocked Ken's restraints, and then started working on the other destined. "Welcome back." He held his hand out to the formerly evil boy.

"T-thanks." Ken stuttered and shook Tai's hand.

"Okay, enough secrets." Eric groaned. "What... the hell... is going... on!?"

"You go first Tai," Leopardmon patted the leader's back, "My story is longer." Tai thanked him in an awkward voice, and then recounted his experience in the room with the seven digidestined and Piedmon, explaining about the dark needle and how his machine drew them out of all of the evil tamers. Once he was done, Leopardmon halted the digidestined's questions and walked to the door. "We could use some air; everyone follow me." Everyone in the room then followed him outside (including the evil tamers, who were confused by what was happening but encouraged by Leopardmon to continue on) and all took a massive exodus through the confused crowds to a massive clearing outside of the village with a small stage, which Leopardmon walked up to. The thirteen digidestined and partners as well as MetalTyrannomon, Datamon, Tekkamon, Agumon Hakase, Babamon, and Dinohumon stood in front of him with what seemed like all of Shichiri village gathering behind him.

"Do you think we could get some answers now please?" Eric groaned. "My feet hurt."

"Do not worry, I am going to tell all of you everything." Leopardmon responded.

"What do you mean by everything?" Tai inquired.

"I mean everything I know. Everything about the digital world, about why you came here, about Piedmon, about everything you don't know. All of my information is yours. I will ask all of you to be quiet for the next few minutes, because it is quite a long story and I would rather not be interrupted." The crowd nodded with confused but excited looks on their faces, and let Leopardmon begin.

"This world, the digital world, is divided into six planes." He started with the basics. "They are layers of matter and data that exist in the same physical realm yet in different realities. It is a very confusing topic that even I do not fully understand, so I will leave the description at that. I will describe each plane to you however. The upper most plane, the sixth plane, is a barren wasteland with nothing but rock. There is a reason for that, and I will tell you soon. The fifth plane is an ocean with nothing in it but one very small grass covered island. On that island is a castle, where the Royal Knights live. The fourth plane is a world of clouds, with large hovering platforms containing some houses all connected by sturdy rope bridges. This is where, as I will soon explain, the devas live." Leopardmon took a breath, waited for any unauthorized questions to emerge (they didn't), and continued. "This is the third plane, the digital plane, where all of the digimon of our world live and grow. The second plane is a place called the dark world. It is a place where only the most evil of creatures who cannot be purified are sent instead of being reborn as digi-eggs. This is where Devimon was sent each time he was destroyed. The final plane is a place called the digital core, which holds all of the information for the rest of the digital world. It is essentially a giant computer that houses information in the form of data and matter that controls our laws of physics and nature, holds our history, our forms, our abilities, and more. It has never been travelled to except by one digimon, which I will explain later." Leopardmon took another deep breath, and then he continued.

"Now as you know, our world was created by a mysterious deity named Yggdrasil. We know nothing about Yggdrasil, except that he appeared millions of years ago in the digital world when it was only one plane. The only thing we know about him is that when he appeared, he was fighting an unknown evil, and their fight created the planes upon which their fight took place on the sixth. Both Yggdrasil and his enemy then disappeared, and all that was left was a lot of meaningless data and matter. Then it started to combine however, and came together to form digimon. We were simple at first, but then through the data streams to the human world we began to grow and evolve into the various and diverse species you see before you." Leopardmon waved his hand around the crowd. "However these digimon were in chaos. They had no order and lived across all the planes but the first. Then three digimon came together and brought order to our world. They were called the Trinity, and they consisted of the most powerful digimon in existence: the master level digimon Chronomon, Susanoomon, and Apocalymon." Leopardmon's comment about the master level answered the question that Piedmon had brought up while he was tormenting the tamers before. "They brought order to our world. They created barriers in the first and second planes, created an entire planet for the digimon to live in on the third plane, developed something that I will explain to you later on the fourth plane, and created a base of operations for themselves on the fifth plane, while leaving the battle site of Yggdrasil and his enemy empty and closed off. However the Trinity did not always agree, unfortunately, and soon one of them turned on the other two."

"Why do I get the feeling that it was Apocalymon?" Eric mumbled to himself.

"Your interruption is unappreciated, but correct." Leopardmon stated to Eric's embarrassment. "Apocalymon was constructed with a lot more dark data than either Susanoomon or Chronomon, and he felt that the three of them should be living as kings or tyrants instead of trying to peacefully direct the actions of the otherwise guideless digimon. Susanoomon and Chronomon were eventually forced to go against him, but Apocalymon was smarter than the both of them combined and eventually defeated the other two members of the Trinity." He looked across the crowd of humans and digimon, most of which besides Babamon had stunned expressions. "But Chronomon and Susanoomon were not so easily defeated; for they had been secretly grooming their own protégés to go against Apocalymon should he have destroyed them. Chronomon's digimon, the Olympus 12, rose up together and completed half of the mission: they sacrificed themselves to destroy Apocalymon and sever his data into multiple pieces, which transformed into six digimon known as the Dark Masters. These Dark Masters were six mega level digimon, however their powers were far beyond any monster of the time. Separated but still powerful in their own right, the Dark Masters tried to conquer the digital world, but they were met with one more force of opposition: Susanoomon's group of digimon, who were-"

"The Royal Knights." Tai blurted out.

"Yes." Leopardmon nodded. "Me and my brethren were created by Susanoomon and trained to fight against Apocalymon should he die. And we were successful. Divided into six different beings of conflicting ideas, the Royal Knights as a united fifteen megas came and destroyed all of the Dark Masters, and sent them to the dark plane. We then took up position as elected heads of the digital world and helped the digimon try to become a society."

"But then Devimon came." Rika realized. Leopardmon sighed in light annoyance and continued.

"Yes. Myotismon appeared and convinced the digimon that the Royal Knights were actually tyrants who were trying to suppress the digimon into living impoverished lives. We were mega level then. What resulted was a civil war. We spent the next ten years directing our army to try to combat Myotismon's influence. Millions of digimon died and were absorbed by Myotismon's forces, and they eventually became too strong for us. That's when our leader, a Seraphimon named Seraphim, took matters into his own hands. He temporarily left the knights and gave our ally Doro, a DoruGoramon, leadership of the knights while he was gone. Seraphim spent the next two years searching for Myotismon, which he eventually did, and as the few witnesses will testify to they locked into an epic battle that lasted days. Fortunately, Myotismon tired out first and Seraphim was able to defeat the vampire."

"And then he was sent to the dark plane, where he spent the next few hundred years creating the dark beacon and planning his escape." Izzy speculated.

"If you would stop interrupting, then I could explain why you are wrong." Leopardmon glared jokingly at Izzy. The genius looked down in embarassement, and then the knight continued. "You are mostly right, but you are missing one key point. You see, Myotismon was the one digimon that discovered how to get into the digital core. Once he did, he learned amazing powers that ordinary digimon could only dream of discovering, such as creating the dark gears and needles, multiplying himself, placing part of his soul in another object,"

"Transforming people into children?" Matt murmured. Leopardmon nodded.

"As well as taking over the body of the digimon that kills him." The lion said solemnly. He then explained the process by which Piedmon was born. "After that, Piedmon, the ultimate mega, returned to us claiming to still be our leader, but he was corrupted and tried to dismantle the world even further, even though the war was over. After a few years, most of us had ascended to ultimate mega as well and we were forced to take action. The five council members of the Royal Knights: Alpha (Dorugoramon was now Alphamon) Paladin, Saka, Examon, and Omega (or as you should know him Omnimon) banded together and overthrew Piedmon."

"But how could you have destroyed him if he would just take over your body?" Kari inquired.

"He was about to tell you." Koromon whispered impatiently.

"Do you know something we don't?" Tai whispered to his partner.

"I won't for long if you'll just listen to Leopardmon." Koromon urged.

"As I was saying," Leopardmon stated dramatically, "You are right. There was no way for us to defeat Piedmon as long as he had the ability to take over our bodies, so Alpha volunteered to defeat him by making the ultimate sacrifice."

"What do you mean?" Matt inquired.

"I mean, Alphamon succeeded in killing Piedmon. He severed the demon with his sword, and then stabbed himself in the chest so that he would die as well. By causing his own death, there was no body for Piedmon to inhabit that would live, and so he was forced to switch between the two bodies aimlessly until both of them passed away. After that we tried to find Alphamon's digi-egg, but in the 400 years since he has never appeared."

"If Piedmon could take over bodies when he was killed, then why didn't he do that to Agumon the two times he killed him?" Tai inquired.

"Because he had no reason to. Piedmon has since found another way to free himself from the dark plane."

"And what's that?"

"His alliance with the Dark Masters."

"The same Dark Masters that he helped you defeat?" Asked Kazu.

"Yes." Leopardmon replied somberly. "His anger at we, the Royal Knights, was so intense that he allied himself with his mortal enemies in order to break free of the dark plane and return to the digital world."

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" Tai inquired. "Why did you leave us to figure out this information for ourselves?"

"Because the last time I tried to guide a group of humans to defeating Devimon, they turned evil. It all has to do with the devas. They were created by the Trinity to protect the fourth plane, which guards the portal to the human world. But there is also on that plane what we call a fail-safe. It was created by Chronomon before he died, and until a hundred and one years ago we had no idea what it did."

"What did it do?" Kari inquired.

"Why it summoned the digi-destined, of course." Leopardmon said obviously. "The fourth plane is blocked off from the rest of the digital world except by data streams, so it is fully protected from the likes of Piedmon and the dark beacon. A year after Devimon re-emerged and I found that I could not defeat him alone, for I had lost my ultimate mega strength, I sent a message to the leader of the devas, Makuramon, who activated the fail-safe, which was a key in a panel. He turned the key and immediately after that Ken, Yolei, Zoe, Kazu, Matt, and Koichi were summoned to our planet. After that, as I'm sure they can testify, I tried to guide them with limited information, and together we assaulted Devimon, but he waited until then to reveal his dark needle and transformed them into his servants. After that I realized that the fail-safe that Chronomon had created was a destiny key, and that it was the digidestined's destiny to defeat Devimon on their own, without outside help."

"So you summoned us after Matt had been taken over." Said Rika.

"Yes. I contacted Makuramon one last time and asked him to turn the destiny key."

"But you did help us. You intervened when the evil… (Tai felt uncomfortable saying this with the twelve in question sitting around them) tamers attacked us."

"And look what happened. Joe turned evil." Eyes turned to Joe Kido for a second, but Leopardmon drew them back with his voice. "By trying to guide the Digidestined, I broke their very nature and led to their downfall. I refused to interfere unless it was absolutely necessary, which was the case in the incident at the cliff, my bringing Agumon's digi-egg back to Tai, and our battle with VenomMyotismon."

"So if you didn't want to interfere with destiny before, then why are you doing it now?" Rika growled suspiciously.

"Because there is still one loose end that still needs tying up," Said Eric, "The Dark Masters."

"Exactly." Leopardmon nodded. "Upon his death, Piedmon revealed that the Dark Masters had returned, and they are planning on conquering the digital world once again."

"So they're here right now?" Tai exclaimed.

"They are. I just have not found them yet."

"And so you are telling us everything because…"

"Because this time, I am afraid that destiny alone might not be enough to combat the forces that we are up against. The Dark Masters are the most devastating evil that has ever touched our world and must be stopped, for their power is absolute. I needed you to know everything because now I have to ask all of you a question that will determine the fate of the rest of your lives. I must once again ask you to traverse mountains and deserts in an attempt to stop an evil force. I must once again ask you to risk your lives for the fate of a world that you don't even fully belong to. I must ask all of you, the digidestined, to help me defeat the Dark Masters one last time and bring peace to the digital world. So what will it be? Will you help me?"

***

"Please forgive me my lords," DemiDevimon bowed respectively to the six digimon circling him like wolves to the cattle, "I have failed you all too much these past few days."

"You could not have known that your minions would re-shape the digital world, we do not blame you for sending us to a continent that did not exist until a few hours ago." Rosemon replied to the little demon, who looked up at the Master with hope in his eyes. "And we don't care that you were not able to defeat your enemy. That is far too low on the list of our priorities."

"What we are upset about is that you allowed Omnimon to form in the first place." A giant metal covered turtle growled high above them. "He is a Royal Knight and his digivolving is very counterproductive."

"Then all of my apologies go towards that error. Please allow me to find a way to correct my mistake before you deal me most deserved punishment."

"Don't worry," A mummy moaned through his binds, "You are too valuable an asset to just destroy and absorb, we will not kill you."

"But we cannot let such a failure be tolerated with no punishment whatsoever." Growled another large behemoth the size of the first, this time a furry walrus-type creature. "You must have a severe deterrence for failing us again."

"Therefore, for the time being, you will be stripped of your powers and be forced to remain a DemiDevimon, until we see it fit for you to return to your former self."

"Anything I can do to prove myself to you, my masters." DemiDevimon responded. Then, a large purple spider crawled up to DemiDevimon and slapped a piece of paper in front of the bat.

"Find this digimon," The arthropod instructed, "He will be useful for later purposes."

"Of course master, but how do you expect me to capture him if I have no abilities?"

"He should still be weak from your battle with him. I assume you will not have any problem in capturing him?"

"Believe me sir, it will be my pleasure."

***

They accepted. All thirteen of them. All twenty six of them. Taichi Kamiya, Kari Kamiya, Rika Nonaka, T.K. Ishida, Matt Ishida, Izzy Izumi, Eric Carter, Ken Ichijoji, Yolei Inoue, Zoe Orimoto, Koichi Kimura, Kazu Shioda, Joe Kido, Salamon, Renamon, Patamon, Terriermon, Tentomon, Wormmon, Mushroomon, Betamon, Hagurumon, Gomamon, and of course the instigators of the entire thing Koromon and Tsunomon all agreed to help Leopardmon find and defeat the Dark Masters. Their allies reluctantly accepted to stay out of it for their own safety. However it was a bit more complicated than that. First of all, Leopardmon had no idea how the Dark Masters had returned, but he assumed that it was a portal from the dark plane. Second of all, Leopardmon had no idea where the Dark Masters were. So what ended up happening were two things: The thirteen digidestined and their partners stayed in Shichiri village to get fully acquainted with one another and to resolve everyone's differences while Leopardmon would scour the digital world with his subordinates to find the portal to the dark plane and the Dark Masters. Needless to say, it was fun for no one.

The two days that the Digidestined spent in Shichiri village were uncomfortable ones for many reasons. The biggest elephant in the room was that more than half of them were evil not one week (or a hundred years) ago, so there was some surfaced animosity in between the two groups. The second problem was that the digimon in the village, even though they understood the complexities of the dark needle and that what the evil tamers had done was not their fault, had a powerful and largely unchangeable hatred towards most of the humans. It took all of the hero digidestined's, Babamon's and Dinohumon's, and the rest of their allies, diplomatic power to keep everyone at peace.

And then of course, there were the smaller issues, like the fact that Ex-Veemon's digi-core could not be harvested from Wormmon. When he had used the champion to DNA digivolve to Paildramon, their data had combined and they were now (like Seraphim and Myotismon) one digimon. It was bitter-sweet. They were happy that Ex-Veemon wasn't technically dead, but sad that he would never again inhabit his own body. There was also the problem that all of the formerly evil digidestined (including Matt to a certain point) were very mopey, and for good reason too. They had been tyrants of the digital world for 100 years because they had no control over their actions. The hero digidestined got tired of constantly forgiving them. Tai and Rika had their problems as well. After all, they had had an… encounter, with each other in the castle atop Spiral Mountain, and neither one of them knew how to deal with this… issue. Fortunately for their embarrassment, dealing with the uncomfortable situations with the evil digidestined took up most of their time, so neither of them had a chance to meet alone.

However all of these problems paled in comparison to the biggest change to the groups dynamic: Koromon and Tsunomon were actually the combined Royal Knight Omnimon, and Tai and Matt were their partners. Needless to say, the others saw them as a little more special than themselves. Tekkamon was particularly in awe It was made worse when the two in-trainings explained that all but three of the Royal Knights were of the ultimate mega level. They took it one step farther by explaining that six of them were also Royal Knights, and that they would not reveal which because that would be counter-productive to those six digivolving. All in all, it was a stressful situation. The 13 kids had two days to get used to each other before Leoardmon returned with the information they had been hoping for. Or perhaps, the information they had been dreading, for they would have like for nothing more than to find out that Piedmon had been lying and that he and the Dark Masters were still trapped in the dark plane. But that was not the case.

Leopardmon came back to Shichiri village and told the digidestined about what had happened. He had found the portal to the dark plane. It was on top of a mountain on the distant continent of Folder. It was a huge gap in the mountain side that led to a dark void; unoriginal, but devastating for their efforts just the same. It meant that the Dark Masters had surely escaped. It also meant that Piedmon had most likely escaped as well. Fortunately Leopardmon in his infinite ultimate mega wisdom had somehow closed the gate, so that was no longer a problem. Leopardmon's next piece of news proved the theory that the Dark Masters and Piedmon were back. Another far off continent, Drive, had been in a heated civil war for the past few years before the arrival of the evil digidestined, but had stopped once Spiral Mountain was created. The digimon of that continent had long ago resolved their differences, so once Spiral Mountain had been dismantled they had seemed to be in peace. However that was not the case, Leopardmon soon found out, as news reached the Royal Knight that the continent was at war again, and now six mega level digimon seemed to be heading the efforts of the aggressive side.

It was decided what they would do. The next morning, the thirteen humans and fourteen digimon would, together, travel to the continent of Drive and face the Dark Masters under Leopardmon's guidance. They had no idea what they were going to do. The Dark Masters were the most powerful monsters in existence (besides their combined form of course), and it took all of the Royal Knights' efforts to defeat them the first time when they were all together. Now, only six Royal Knights besides Omnimon and Leopardmon remained, and they didn't even know who they were. But Leopardmon assured them that it would not matter, for a digimon combined with the spirit and virtue of a human was much more powerful than a digimon alone. The combined power of the 27 of them would be more than enough to defeat the Dark Masters and Piedmon for the last time.

"ZZZ…" Tai was asleep. He had had a long three days. He had had a long six weeks. Technically, he had actually had a long 100 years and 1 and ½ months. But that was too much for Tai to comprehend. It was too much for any of the digidestined to comprehend. Realizing that half of them had been alive for a hundred years and none of them seemed to have matured beyond teenage levels made them uneasy. So they slept, all 13 of them. All 26 of them slept. Only Leopardmon remained awake. He remained in the town center with Babamon, Dinohumon, MetalTyrannomon, Datamon, Tekkamon, and Agumon Hakase to discuss issues. It was just boring politics however (as boring as anything in the digital world got), for the real action was in Tai's room, where he and Koromon were sleeping soundly. Or rather, where they were sleeping soundly until a rookie digimon covered in shadows snuck into the room through the window and crept onto the upper bunk, where Koromon was snoozing. He placed a stick in the window so that it would remain open.

"ZZZ…" Koromon imitated his partner's loud noise. Their alternating snoozes sounded like a musical chorus in the dark and quiet room.

"After everything we've been through…" The round digimon hissed, "I am within an inch of killing you, and there would be nothing you could do to stop it." He wiped the sweat off of his brow with his blackish blue wing. "But I won't. My masters want you for some reason, and I have no wish to defy their orders. But mark my words, you will pay for the hell that you've put me through. One day the Dark Masters will be done with you, and then you will be mine." He jumped away from Koromon and latched onto Tai's digivice and crest, which were on the table, clipping them together and slipping them over his neck. He then flapped up to Koromon's level and pulled out a rope from some corner of his body.

Tai was dreaming of his home. He was dreaming that he and Kari had just returned from school, and that their parents were about to take them out to a family dinner at the Akabeko. He dreamed that while they were leaving, Kari's friend Takato came over looking to hang out with the girl at the park, so they graciously brought him along. After all, Takato Matsuki and his parents were close family friends. They only lived a few blocks away, and the Kamiyas and Matsukis had been family friends for hundreds of years, since the Meiji Period. They were practically family themselves. Tai dreamed that after dinner they all returned to the Matsuki's, where Takato's cousin Kairo and his parents had come to visit. Kairo had always been a little dark, and that disturbed Takato, Tai, and Kari everytime the boy had come to visit. Tai dreamed that one day while passing the guest room that Kairo's family was staying in to get to the lavatory, he had heard some screaming. Tai then realized that he wasn't dreaming, but remembering while he was asleep. He didn't know why he was remembering. All he could think of was that something must be reminding him of this strange occurrence. Then it occurred to him that someone was muffling a yell in real life, and that Tai had to figure out who it was. Then he woke up.

"Taa!" A muffled Koromon bellowed. It took the awoken boy a second to realize that his partner was calling out to him. He quickly rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and leaped out of bed to see what was wrong. The answer shocked him. Koromon was wrapped in some rope bindings and being dragged out of the room… by DemiDevimon.

"Koromon!" He jumped for the pink puff ball, who was immediately pulled away by DemiDevimon now halfway out the window.

"Nuh-uh-uh, we'll have none of that now." DemiDevimon waved his wing like a finger. "Koromon has a higher purpose than being your partner."

"Give Koromon back! And give back my digivice and crest too!" Tai demanded and took another step towards the bat. DemiDevimon responded by leaning farther out of the window.

"Take one step closer and see what happens." DemiDevimon warned.

"Why do the Dark Masters want my partner?" Tai growled while restraining himself from stepping any farther.

"So, you know about the Dark Masters eh? Pity. But even if I knew the answer to that question, I wouldn't be at liberty to discuss it with you. But if I had to take a guess, I'd say one of the less important reasons would be extra incentive for you and your friends to follow me to Drive. So with that, I'll bid you adieu." Then he jumped out of the window.

"No! Koromon!" Tai grabbed his pants off of the table, threw them on so he wouldn't freeze in the night cold, and jumped after the bat. "Get back here DemiDevimon!" Tai ran as fast as he could (which was pretty fast) to try and catch up with the bugger. Unfortunately DemiDevimon was faster, even with the extra weight.

"Catch me if you can Taichi Kamiya!" DemiDevimon laughed as he rose higher into the air. Tai in his anger caught a large pebble on the foot of his toe and kicked it up at DemiDevimon. Fortunately somehow it worked and pelted the flying mammal in his wing joint, which made him falter long enough to drop lower to the ground. Tai then took the opportunity to sprint closer to the bat and grasp the monster's wing and drag him to the ground. Unfortunately Tai slammed to the ground as well and the shock from his belly flop caused the boy to release DemiDevimon, who then tumbled with Koromon in his talons across the cobblestone street. Tai got up first and jumped after the bat, which was quick to react. DemiDevimon used Koromon to push himself higher off of the ground and started flying away. This time DemiDevimon curved into an alley and momentarily vanished.

"Get back here you coward!" Tai ordered the chiropterian as he jumped into the alley too. He spotted DemiDevimon a few yards away widening the gap between himself and Tai. As Tai got midway through the alley, DemiDevimon turned another corner and was gone. This time Tai sped up and arrived at the turn sooner, only to see that DemiDevimon had vanished. He took a quick glance around the alley and spotted a flash of darkness fly over the one story building to his right. A stack of crates was against the building, so Tai used them to clamber up the side and go after where he was sure DemiDevimon was. He then spotted the bat careening across the sky over another building. He was now gaining speed in the air currents.

"You'll have to do better than that!" DemiDevimon laughed. Tai then picked up a cantaloupe that was in one of the crates and picked up speed. He jumped over the gap between two of the buildings (which was slightly higher) and gained altitude as well. As he gained speed, he found that he was catching up with DemiDevimon. The mid-speed chase and the extra weight of Koromon was weighing the bat down. Tai made it worse by grabbing the cantaloupe from under his arm and kicking it into the air, where it collided with DemiDevimon.

"Agh!!!" DemiDevimon spiraled out of control and crashed into the window of the building directly ahead of Tai. The goggle-less goggle head then sprinted to the opening and leaped inside, where he saw DemiDevimon knocking a door open and then flying out of the room they were in. Tai jumped out of the room as well and chased DemiDevimon through a series of corridors that eventually led to the front door. DemiDevimon chose the open window instead and flew out of the house, with Tai pouncing out of the doorway. They now found themselves on a street Tai had never been on before. Next to the house Tai had just exited was an empty crate, so Tai grabbed the wooden box and prepared to throw it at DemiDevimon. "I'm getting really tired of this Kamiya." DemiDevimon groaned and then turned left sharply to duck into another alley. This change in flight pattern was all that Tai needed to close the gap between them and throw the crate at DemiDevimon. It smashed apart on impact and knocked DemiDevimon into the wall.

"So give up already!" Tai ordered.

"No!" DemiDevimon snapped defiantly and continued down the alley. Tai turned after him and chased the monster into another street. DemiDevimon then zigzagged through a series of streets and alleys in an attempt to shake Tai off of his trail, but his efforts were futile. Tai kept up with him every second. Soon they found themselves running through the main road towards the southern gate.

"You're about to lose!" DemiDevimon laughed.

"That's what you think!" Tai opposed. He then picked up a chair that was against one of the houses and tossed it at DemiDevimon. The bat avoided the bulky projectile, but it distracted him long enough for Tai to speed up and almost completely destroy the gap between them. DemiDevimon then had one last desperate attempt. He spun around when Tai was about to pounce and head-butted the boy. Tai did not expect the attack coming and was knocked semi-conscious. Tai stumbled onto the ground and smacked his face directly into the cobblestone street.

"Nice try boy! Better luck next time!" DemiDevimon roared in laughter as he rose in elevation, soared over the gate, and disappeared.

"Koromon…" Tai groaned as he slowly lost consciousness. "Koromon… no…"


	57. In a Dark Wood

Well this pisses me off. About 5 months ago I posted my fourth chapter. In that chapter Izzy gets and e-mail saying "help me." That e-mail was from a domain called (I have to space this out so that it'll be posted) w w w . f a c t o r y m a r k . c o . j p / s y s t e m / p o s . Fifty Two chapters ago, I put that e-mail address in that chapter so that Izzy could ask Leopardmon about it now, and I looked back earlier to get the e-mail address and found that it wasn't there. Bunch of crap.

**Chapter Fifty Seven: In a Dark Wood**

"Hey Izzy." Eric nodded to the fellow tamer as he crossed the street while heading for the mess hall.

"Eric." Izzy nodded as well. "What are you doing up so early?" He inquired while peering at the watch he had received like the other digidestined from Babamon, "It's 7:45."

"I was just getting something to eat. I wake up early these days; too much adrenaline."

"Heh, yeah, I know the feeling. I'll go with you." He joined his friend on the practically empty street and they both headed for the newly opened eatery in south town.

"It's odd," Eric commented, "You'd think now that they're free the digimon would be busy all day and night rebuilding their town." Eric turned his head to spot the eyesores in the distance. In the hundred years that the evil digidestined had been in charge, the residents of Shichiri village hadn't had the chance to fix the buildings that had been destroyed in the battle with Cherrymon and Paildramon. As such, the two boys could plainly see crumpled buildings a mile or so behind them.

"Yeah, well I guess after being terrorized for so long they'd rather have a chance to get some sleep." Izzy half reasoned and half joked. He quieted down however when the two passed an Ogremon that had just departed his house and was headed to some place north of them. After he was gone, the two began to speak again.

"You wouldn't think they would be able to get much sleep considering that those same terror givers are now sleeping in a building near the center of town." Eric said while the two turned down an alley to get to the next street.

"I guess they trust us when we say that they are the good guys now." Izzy replied.

"That's a little bit too much power for my taste, but I guess we'll just have to get used to it won't we." Eric joked as they rounded the corner and came upon the main street that led from the south gate to the center of Shichiri. They were now only a couple hundred yards from the mess hall (and the gate, for the former was built close to it purposefully). "You know, I think that-"

"Tai?" Izzy interrupted the boy when he saw the tamer leader sprawled on the ground near the gate in only his socks, shorts, and undershirt.

"What the hell?" Eric murmured to himself as the two boys jogged over to the goggle-less goggle head.

"Tai, wake up." Izzy shook the boy's back in an effort to awaken him, but the Kamiya would not budge.

"Tai," Eric knocked on Taichi's head lightly, but he still wouldn't budge. Then he flicked the boy's ear and shocked him awake.

"Ah!" Tai grasped his ear which was in light pain and Izzy and Eric helped him to a seated position.

"You okay Tai?" Izzy inquired.

"Yeah, why were you out in the middle of the street?" Eric added.

"Out in the… street?" He asked in a disoriented voice.

"Yeah, we're on the main street right now. Why aren't you in bed?" Said Izzy.

"Bed… Oh no Koromon!" Tai then jumped to his feet and made a dash for the gate.

"Hey!" Eric grabbed Tai's arm and spun him back in between himself and Izzy. "Tell us what's wrong Tai."

"Koromon, he's, he's," Tai now strangely seemed out of breath and unable to respond.

"Tai calm down and tell us what happened?" Izzy breathed.

"He… he was taken… by DemiDevimon…" He slowed down his breathing long enough to say. Izzy and Eric then gave him a mournful and horrified look.

"I'll go get Leopardmon," Eric determined, and then took off down the street.

***

"Congratulations DemiDevimon, you have served us well." Rosemon gave a nod of approval as the demon bat dropped the restrained Koromon into her hands and landed on the ground to bow. She then walked up to one of the many vine covered walls in the chamber and pulled two of them open, where a small cage was exposed. She took the still struggling Koromon and placed him in the cave for the time being. "This is a good stepping stone to regaining your powers."

"Thank you milady, but regrettably I bring bad news as well."

"And what would that be?" Rosemon inquired while walking back to the vine constructed throne in the middle of the plant covered room and sat down.

"I believe the digidestined have learnt of you and your brethren's existence."

"Why?" Rosemon suppressed a glare.

"When I was apprehending Koromon, his partner woke up and confronted me. I escaped but not before the boy asked me why the Dark Masters wanted his partner. It would seem as if Leopardmon has finally broken his vow of noninterference."

"That is most unfortunate," Rosemon sighed with anger, "But it won't matter. Even if Leopardmon has united them, and even if they know where we are, we will still win."

"If I may ask, how will you do that master? The digidestined have a nasty track record of coming up from behind."

"That is why we will use the oldest strategy in the book," She replied, "The digidestined are strongest together. So we will separate them; not destined from destined, but partner from partner, starting with Koromon here." Rosemon drummed her fingers on the arm of the chair and pointed with her other hand to the cage to her right.

"Won't that be a little dangerous my liege? After all, six of them are potential Royal Knights, plus Leopardmon and Omnimon of course."

"It will not matter DemiDevimon," Rosemon shook her head, "Our plans are bigger than even you can imagine. Any move the digidestined make against us will force them right into our plans, whether they believe it a victory... or defeat."

***

"Good morning Ken," Wormmon hung down from his top bunk to wake up his partner, Ken Ichijoji, who had already forced himself awake with the morning sun piercing his window. Wormmon then greeted the 12 year old boy morning instead.

"What's good about it?" Ken groaned as he pushed himself out of the bed and walked over to the open bathroom to wash off his face,

"For one thing, you don't have to wear that stupid robe anymore." Wormmon referenced the deep blue robe folded on the desk to his partner's confusion.

"What are you talking about Wormmon?" Ken yawned as he arrived at the sink and began splashing water into his face to further the awakening process. Wormmon rolled his eyes, dropped to the ground via silk thread, and crawled to the desk where a set of tan clothing was neatly folded. He jumped up, grabbed the clothing, and crawled to the bathroom, where Ken had just wiped the moisture off of his face with a towel.

"It was a special delivery." Wormmon pushed the clothes upward so that when Ken turned around they were level with his waist.

"Wha-?" Ken slowly grabbed the clothing and examined it curiously. It was the same set of clothes he had worn the day he came to the digital world. They had deteriorated decades ago, which was why he had to commission the robes to be made. Wondering how the clothes could have gotten there but realizing that Leopardmon must have had something to do with it, Ken pushed Wormmon out of the bathroom, took a shower, and changed into the clothes.

"You look like a new man Ken," Wormmon smirked at his partner when the boy walked out of the bathroom with his original garb.

"Or an old one," Ken smiled while examining how perfectly the clothes fit him.

"So how about it Ken, want to go get some breakfast?"

"Um, I don't think we should go out in public alone right now. Maybe we should wait for one of the others to wake up first."

"And how are we supposed to find out when the others are awake?"

"Uh…" Ken had no answer.

"Exactly. Let's at least go outside and see if anybody's up. Mind getting the door? I don't have the best reach." The green digimon joked. Wormmon was like a large caterpillar, except with a torso and arm purposed limbs. On his hind legs he could reach the height of Ken's thighs, which wasn't very practical.

"Right, yeah." Ken pushed past Wormmon and opened the wooden door, where he immediately saw Yolei and Mushroomon running down the hall towards the exit. "Huh?" Just after that Matt and T.K., along with their partners, bolted down the same way. Ken and Wormmon turned their heads out of the door to see that the whole lot of digidestined (minus Tai, Eric, Izzy, and Koromon) was running down the hall. "Okay…"

"Come on Ken!" Wormmon urged as he rushed out of the door after the rest of the team. The poor monster was too slow, so Ken ran up behind him and picked up the rookie so that they could pick up speed.

"What's going on?" Ken cried to Matt as he caught up to the ally.

"It's DemiDevimon," Matt breathed while quickening his pace, "He snuck into Shichiri village last night and kidnapped Koromon."

***

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Leopardmon waved his hand in front of Tai's face with three fingers sticking up.

"Uh…" Tai moaned, "Nine?"

"Perfect." Leopardmon sighed as he put his arm down. "He might have brain damage. Tai, do you know who I am?"

"You're Leopardmon." Tai replied obviously. Leopardmon gave a sigh of relief and began to stand up. "And Leomon, Elecmon, SaberLeomon, and probably about fifty other digimon we've met."

"Very funny," Leopardmon said dryly, "You have Omnimon's sense of humor."

"Are you okay Tai?" Izzy inquired, refocusing on Tai's health. "Anything hurt?"

"No, my eyesight is just a little blurry." Tai groaned.

"You banged your head on the street; it's understandable." Eric added.

"Tai!" A call from down the road signaled the four to look up and see a parade of digidestined marching towards them. Kari was at the head of the pack, running faster than the rest. "Tai, are you okay!?" She urged to know as the girl skidded to a halt in front of her brother and grasped him in a hug.

"Yeah, I'm fine Kari," Tai answered unconvincingly.

"What happened Tai?" Matt inquired with concern.

"DemiDevimon broke into my room last night and took Koromon, my crest, and my digivice. I chased him across town but he got a lucky shot at me and knocked me out. The Dark Masters wanted him for something. We have to go after him."

"We will Tai, but first we need to make sure you're back to full health." Leopardmon answered.

"No, we have to go now. We don't know how long DemiDevimon's been gone. For all you know, Koromon could be in the hands of the Dark Masters already, and they could be doing God knows what to him." He then felt Eric grabbing his watch wrist and examining the gadget.

"Your watch broke when you fell. DemiDevimon's been gone for almost four hours." Eric commented.

"By high speed flight, the continent of Drive is about three hours away." Leopardmon answered regrettably.

"Then let's get moving, now!" Tai urged.

"He's right," Tsunomon nodded, "Every second wasted is another second that something bad could happen to Koromon."

"Okay, we'll go. But first," Leopardmon grabbed Tai's shoulder and pulled the boy to his feet, "Perhaps you should get dressed."

***

"There's the shore." HerculesKabuterimon announced. He nodded forward to indicate a wide beach in the distance. Beyond it was a thick forest that covered most of their view of the continent.

"Drive is a most strange continent," Leopardmon explained, "Much like Spiral Mountain it is divided into different geographical zones. The entire continent is surrounded by a wide beach, and a forest hundreds of miles wide loops behind it. A wasteland is after that, followed by a tundra, a series of mountains, and then the city in the middle of the four large peaks in its center."

"How does that work?" Eric asked with doubt.

"This is the digital world," Leopardmon replied, "Anything is possible."

"Where do you think we should start?" Kari inquired, "To find Agumon I mean. If the Dark Masters have taken control of this continent, then they're probably in the city, right?"

"I think we might be better off starting at the beach." HerculesKabuterimon added to the conversation.

"And why is that?" Leopardmon inquired.

"See for yourselves." HerculesKabuterimon curved sideways. They were almost to the edge of the land mass and could see the enormous beach clearly. They could also see what was on the beach.

"What the hell is that?" Joe mumbled.

"It looks like we were expected." Matt replied. The 26 riders were now gazing at a massive wooden wall constructed in the sand. On it in bright red letters was a message.

_**Welcome, Digidestined**_

"Let's check it out." Leopardmon instructed. HerculesKabuterimon then ducked down and flew to the beach, where he unloaded his cargo and then degenerated. The 27 then walked cautiously to the simple wall, where a podium was set up on the ground in the center. On the podium was a small white envelop. "Curious…" Leopardmon whispered. He slowly walked up to the podium and removed the letter, and then began to open it.

"Be careful," T.K. whispered as Leopardmon removed the small white note inside.

"What does it say?" Tai inquired.

"It says if you want Koromon back, to follow the yellow brick road." He suppressed a chuckle.

"Wow, the Dark Masters are even lamer than we are." Eric joked while bumping Ken's arm.

"There's no road around here," Tentomon announced after flying to the top of the wall to get a better look at the beach, "Just a…"

"Just a what?" Leopardmon inquired.

"Just a big purple bear heading right for us!" He leaped away just as the wall exploded and rained down on the helpless digidestined behind it. Fortunately Renamon acted quickly.

**"Renamon, warp digivolve to… Taomon!"**

"Talisman Spell!" Taomon immediately formed a protective barrier over the group so that the splinters of wood bounced harmlessly off of it.

"Look out!" Tentomon called into the air. The entities under the shield looked up to see an enormous purple bear with an orange clawed hand and a mechanized blaster hand stomping forward.

"It's Callismon, a mega," Leopardmon announced, "The Dark Masters must have sent him here to welcome us."

"Some welcome." Matt complained.

"I will stop him," Said Leopardmon, "I'm not back to my ultimate mega strength, but I have more than enough to deal with him."

"Wait!" Zoe opposed, "Let one of us deal with him, "She referred to herself and the former evil digidestined, "Let us do something helpful for a change."

"Die digidestined!" The Callismon roared and fired a blast from his cannon.

**"Betamon, warp digivolve to… MetalSeadramon!"**

***

"I think that might have been the easiest battle anyone's ever had to deal with." Zoe stated in a daze. "Am I right?"

"The purpose of that battle was obviously part of the Dark Master's sick little game." Leopardmon sighed. "First you destroyed him, and then these lights popped up." He flicked one of the yellow lamps as he passed it. The lamps illuminated a dirt trail in the deep forest, which the destined followed after MetalSeadramon… lightly tapped Callismon in the gut and he disintegrated.

"At least we know where we're going now." Tai said determinedly.

"Even if it is into the belly of the beast." Eric murmured.

"Koromon is in trouble," Tai grumbled, "I don't care."

"We all want to save Koromon Tai," Leopardmon comforted, "We just have to be smart about it. We're obviously walking right into a trap. We need to be careful."

"I know, sorry. I'm just anxious." He grumbled .

"Hey Leopardmon, can I ask you a question?" Izzy marched up to the side of Leopardmon and asked.

"Go ahead." Leopardmon replied casually.

"Do you know what factory mark is?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about. Where did you hear of this "factory mark?"

"ON my second day here, I received an e-mail on my laptop from an address named w w w . f a c t o r y m a r k . c o . j p / s y s t e m / p o s, and it said "help me."

"That is most curious." Leopardmon pondered. "I have never heard of such a thing in our world, however I have never seen an e-mail in our world, only on your human television. Perhaps it leaked through the data streams and arrived at your computer by accident."

"I thought about that, but my computer wasn't getting a signal, and I've never heard of a factory mark on earth, and I'm pretty savvy with all the Japanese companies with servers."

"Well the digital world is not just connected to Japan Izzy, our data streams and your data streams are interconnected throughout your entire world."

"Huh, I never thought of that. It's weird though."

"Why?"

"Because all of us are from Japan, or at least we were all in Japan when we were pulled to the digital world."

"Hm, that is odd. I wouldn't have imagined that the destined key would be so specific to one region of your world."

"May I ask another question?"

"I told you Koushiro Izumi, I am an open book."

"How did you know my real name?"

"I have my ways. Now what was your question?"

"How did the portal to the dark plane emerge without the dark beacon again? It doesn't make a lot of sense how Piedmon's rebirth could create a portal large enough for them to escape through."

"It wasn't just Piedmon's re-emergence that brought about the portal. It had already existed from when it was opened by the dark beacon before. However it was too small for anyone to fit through. The creation of Spiral Mountain, however, brought about a chaotic element that accidentally caused the portal to grow larger, enough for DemiDevimon to be freed. Then his digivolution and battle with Omnimon further increased that chaos."

"What do you mean "chaotic element?"

"He means entropy Izzy," Eric called from behind the pack, "Organized chaos."

"I know what entropy is Eric I just don't see how it applies." Izzy snapped back.

"It is very complicated Koushiro," Leopardmon spoke, "As I said before, I don't know everything about the digital world."

"Does anybody here that?" Kari announced unexpectedly. Everyone stopped talking for a few seconds to try and detect the sound she had heard.

"I don't hear anything Kari." Tai whispered.

"We do," Salamon replied.

"It's a rumbling." Tentomon murmured.

"Do you think it's the Dark Masters?" T.K. asked.

"As long as it isn't another underground mountain I'm not complaining." Eric grumbled.

"Oh Yggdrasil," Leopardmon moaned once he realized what was happening.

"What?" Rika urged.

"Over there!" Renamon thrust her finger to the group's right. Everyone turned to see a swarm of giant bees in the distance speeding towards them. "Flymon," She grumbled.

"Not just them," Leopardmon sighed, "Over there too." He pointed to their left and the team turned their heads to see a field of yellow haired man-apes galloping towards them as well. "Apemon."

"We're in the middle of a battlefield." Ken gulped.

"There's gotta be tens of thousands of them." Wormmon murmured as he crawled onto his partner's back.

"There are too many of them for us to handle," Leopardmon stated, "We have to find some cover. Get into the hiding trees." He then bolted towards one of the larger trunks in the area.

"Hiding trees?" Eric questioned. "What hiding trees?"

"The ones we saw on our first day remember!?" T.K. ordered as he pushed the boy forward so that he would get moving. The memory snapped into place in Eric's head and he started running.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about those." There were a few dozen thick trunks spread throughout the small patch of forest, so it didn't take long for the 27 destined and digimon to find themselves some cover. They ducked low, for once the battle between the two jaune digimon commenced chances are that the tops of the hiding trees would be obliterated. Eric, Tentomon, T.K., Patamon, Matt, Gabumon, Ken, and Wormmon found themselves together in one tree, and they waited nervously for the battle to commence.

"So we're just going to sit here and do nothing?" T.K. complained.

"We're too deep in the battlefield T.K.," Matt answered, "We don't have much of a choice. We just have to wait until their numbers thin out or they're just too tired to fight anymore."

"That's a really crappy plan Matt." T.K. complained.

"T.K…" Matt was about to protest.

"No, he's right." Said Eric. "It is a crappy plan. But it's the only one we have. There's no other choice." He said gloomily.

"Geez, depressing enough are you?" Matt grumbled.

"Shh, they're here." Ken hushed. Everyone quieted down and heard the rumbling increase rapidly in volume and intensity, and then come to a sudden halt. Then they heard some murmuring.

"What do you think they're saying?" Kari inquired once she heard one of the Apemon and one of the Flymon started talking. She was held up in one of the hiding trees with her brother, Rika, Renamon, and Salamon.

"They're obviously on separate sides of the civil war," Renamon whispered, "The question is, what side is fighting for their freedom, and which side is working for the Dark Masters."

"If I had to take a guess, I'd say that the Flymon are with the Dark Masters." Said Kari. "Those guys were creepy."

"Looks can be deceiving Kari." Renamon murmured.

"Agh!" A scream pierced the air, followed by angry shouts from both camps of digimon.

"Looks like first blood has been spilled." Rika grumbled. Then the noises of battle erupted. Weapons clashed, flesh was pierced, war cries and screams of agony bounced off of the trees and radiated throughout the forest.

"Boom!" Suddenly a string of stingers blasted apart the top of one of the hiding trees.

"Agh!" Matt covered T.K. to stop him from being sprayed with splinters, while Gabumon did the same for his partner and T.K., Ken, and Eric for theirs.

"So much for the hiding trees." Eric groaned.

"You think we would've learned our lesson the first time." T.K. added.

"This is still a good place to hide but we have to stay quiet." Ken hissed.

"Sorry." T.K. and Eric whispered in unison. They stayed silent for the next few minutes while listening to the battle erupt in the forest around them. Exploding trees could be heard everywhere, but the sound of screaming digimon still haunted every second of the battle. Fortunately, twenty minutes passed, and then the group could not here as much of the battle as before.

"Do you think they moved away from our location?" Gabumon inquired.

"Oof!" They heard an apish creature crash into the ground only a few feet away from their tree. Then a Flymon zoomed by overhead and proceeded to pounce on the monster. A struggle commenced and the digidestined remained as silent as possible. Finally, they heard an insectoid cry (which pained Tentomon and Wormmon more than the others) and the sound of the Apemon rising to his feet and tending to his wounds. The destined were deathly quiet. The tree was deathly quiet. Even Apemon barely made any noise. The battle had moved far away. The four felt a little safer, but rathered not to draw attention to themselves by leaving the tree. That hope vanished, however, when Eric's phone rang.


	58. Love and Ultimatums

**Chapter Fifty Eight: Love and Ultimatums**

"Uh…" Eric stared with wide eyes at his pocket. A bright light was piercing the jean fabric, and a Green Day song was floating out of the patch and wafting into the air. "Well that's new."

"Turn it off!" Matt hissed. But it was too late. Seconds later, a furry yellow head popped into the hiding tree. The Apemon stared at the lot of them with confusion.

"Hello." Ken said nervously.

"Digidestined." The Apemon growled, then jumping into the tree with his bone weapon drawn.

"Run!" Matt ordered, and the eight inhabitants bolted from the tree with the Apemon right on their heels. The group could now see that most of the greenery around them had been obliterated, and the army was mostly fighting hundreds of yards away, perhaps a quarter mile. Fortunately none of the other hiding trees seemed to have taken damage at their bases, so hopefully the rest of the destined were safe.

"I guess we found out which side's evil." Tentomon panted.

"I think it's time to fight now!" Eric announced.

"We'll fight, you answer the damn phone!" Matt ordered before slowing down and spinning on his heel so that he was facing the Apemon. "Tear him apart Gabumon."

**"Gabumon, warp digivolve to… WereGarurumon!"** Gabumon exploded in a burst of light and a second later the blue werewolf was facing off against the ape. Its eyes grew wide with terror and was about to call out to its allies, but WereGarurumon struck first. He jumped off of the ground and plunged his claws into the evil monster's neck, severing its voice box first and then sending the monster into oblivion and data.

"This phone's been off for six weeks how'd it just turn on like that?" Eric murmured to himself while pulling the pda phone out of his pocket. The number was unknown, but he didn't want to pass up the opportunity of a phone call in the digital world, so he answered it. "Hello."

"We've got company," WereGarurumon growled. He was staring towards the massive battle, where a group of about fifty Apemon had broken away from the brawl and was now racing towards them. "I don't want to waste my mega strength, you guys should digivolve too."

"Mom?" They heard Eric gasp from behind the rest of the group.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!!!???" They heard Mrs. Carter roar on the other end of the line. Before he could answer his mother, however, a thick bone whizzed past his head and smashed into a nearby tree, almost taking his head off.

"Agh!" Eric bounced back after almost being killed. His eyes then widened even farther and he yelled "Ken, look out!" The addressed destined turned to see an Apemon seconds from pouncing on the tamer of prudence.

**"Wormmon, warp digivolve to… Paildramon!"** Wormmon jumped off of Ken's back and digivolved just in time to intercept the primate and knock him into another tree. "Back off!" The dual-voiced monster barked.

"Ayah!" Another Apemon leaped from the canopy of the forest and drove his bone club down on Paildramon's head, knocking the monster out cold and forcing him to crumple onto the ground.

**"Patamon, warp digivolve to… MagnaAngemon!"**

**"Tentomon digivolve to… Kabuterimon!" **The last remaining rookies digivolved to combat the wave of Apemon that had surrounded them.

"Hey Mom, uh, I'm gonna have to call you back." Eric groaned and then hung up the phone.

***

"They're surrounded." Kari popped her head back into the hiding tree and hissed. "Why doesn't one of them just digivolve to mega?"

"And waste all of that strength?" Rika inquired sarcastically."Besides, we don't even know if they're on the Dark Masters' side or just afraid because of the evil digidestined."

"So! You do work for the Dark Masters, Apemon!" They heard T.K. bellow.

"What was that for?" Matt murmured to his brother.

"Talisman Star!" Taomon's red blade sizzled through the air and popped into the back of one of the Apemon, disintegrating him.

"They're behind us!" One of the Apemon panicked. The group turned to see two digimon barreling down on them.

"Celestial Arrow!"

"Talisman Star!" Angewomon and Taomon assaulted the Apemon with projectiles.

"Now!" Kabuterimon ordered. "Electro-Shocker!"

"Excalibur!"

"Half Moon Kick!"

***

"Gah!" A Flymon was assaulted from the canopy above by an Apemon and knocked to the ground. The Apemon then flipped the insect over and pinned him to the ground to deliver the finishing blow. "Help!" The Flymon called out in agony and futility.

"Die-!" Apemon was about to drive his club into Flymon's face when another flying creature slammed into the ape and knocked him off of Flymon and into the ground a few feet away.

"Huh?" The Flymon grumbled.

"Desperado Blaster!" Paildramon poured dozens of energy bullets into the defenseless Apemon who disintegrated almost immediately. Paildramon then dropped to ground level to tend to the Flymon.

"You okay?" The ultimate inquired while sticking his arm out to help the Flymon to his (many) feet.

"Uh, yeah, who are you?" It groaned.

"Just a friend, now watch yourself." Paildramon then jumped back into the air and sped towards the nearest Apemon to do some business.

"Celestial Arrow!"

"Howling Blaster!" WereGarurumon and Angewomon were circling Tai, Matt, and Kari in an effort to defend them from the hoards of Apemon coming their way. Fortunately, the efforts of MegaKabuterimon, Rapidmon, and Taomon were depleting the Apemon's numbers before they could arrive at the destined's location, so Angewomon and WereGarurumon were easily able to handle the numbers.

"MegaKabuterimon!" Eric screamed to his partner (upon which he, Izzy, and Rika had caught a ride) over the roars of the battle. "Put us down! We're too much of a liability to you!"

"And leave you defenseless? I don't think so." MegaKabuterimon opposed after punching out a few Apemon.

"Put us in one of the tree tops. We'll be safe in the higher ones."

"It's still a war zone up there," MegaKabuterimon nodded up to the tops of the forest more than 50 feet away.

"All of the Flymon pretty much know we're on their side now," Said Izzy, "We'll be safe."

"I'm not-"

"Just do it MegaKabuterimon!" Eric growled.

"Fine." The insect groaned back whilst curving upwards to deposit his cargo.

"We can't keep going on like this," WereGarurumon complained, "If we keep playing the defensive, then we're going to lose. We need to get our partners somewhere safe and digivolve."

"But we can't waste our energy," Angewomon replied, "How will we face the Dark Masters who are hundreds of times stronger than us if we do?"

"If we keep fighting like this, then we won't have _anything_ left to fight with."

"The area behind us is mostly untouched by the battle," Said Matt, "We can move back there where it is safer."

"Be careful." Angewomon commanded while the three humans backed away.

**"WereGarurumon digivolve to… MetalGarurumon!"**

**"Angewomon digivolve to… Ophanimon!" **

"Behind this tree," Tai said. He then led Matt and his sister behind a much thicker trunk and leaned exhaustedly against it.

"You okay Tai?" Kari inquired while backing against a smaller tree adjacent to Tai's.

"I'm just tired, that's all." He sighed.

"For good reason," Coughed Matt, "I don't think I can take much more of this."

"Heh, ditto." Kari gasped. "Agh!" Suddenly a long black arm popped out from behing the tree and grabbed the girl, pulling her towards him. "Tai!"

"Kari!" Tai and Matt rand behind the tree after her, only to find a tall black demon with one arm clasped over her mouth and the other wrapped around her waist.

"Devimon." Tai growled and cried at the same time.

"Hello again Tai." The champion smiled evilly. "I'm glad you took up my offer. The Dark Masters will be delighted to know you've arrived."

"Let go of my sister you monster." The goggle head demanded.

"Now Tai, you know I can't do that." And with that, he popped his wings open and took off, far away from the battlefield.

"No!" Tai took off like a wild cat after the old demon, desperate to return his sister to safety.

"MetalGarurumon!" Matt called to his partner, who after disposing of a pair of Apemon was at the blond haired Japanese boy's side in an instant. "Devimon took Kari." Was all he had to say. MetalGarurumon immediately ducked down so that his partner could mount and then took off in the direction of Devimon (which he could determine due to the fact that Tai was still struggling to catch up as well).

"Tai, get on!" MetalGarurumon instructed while slowing down next to the boy. Tai didn't have to be told twice. He hopped onto MetalGarurumon's back and then the mega wolf was off, as he could now see Devimon in the distance.

"Where did MetalGarurumon go?" Izzy pondered while staring down at the battlefield, as the metal wolf had just disappeared.

"He went the same direction as Tai, Matt, and Kari had gone, they might be in trouble." Said Rika. "Taomon!" She beckoned her partner, who knocked an Apemon unconscious before hovering up to the tree the three were hiding in.

***

"He's going into that dense area on that hill." Matt pointed forward to a large slope that was covered almost completely in forest. MetalGarurumon could barely find a path inside which, as he soon realized, was actually a path inside.

"This isn't an ordinary part of the forest." Said MetalGarurumon. "It's been designed this way to hide something within."

"Like a Dark Master?" Asked Matt.

"Like a Dark Master." MetalGarurumon replied.

"Let's hope Koromon's in here otherwise we're screwed."

"As much as I agree with the first part, why do you say that?" Tai inquired.

"MetalGarurumon and I are only half a Royal Knight." Matt replied. "We need the Grey Sword to be anything sort of special."

"There's a room ahead." MetalGarurumon announced. "I hear voices." He slowed down to a brisk pace to prepare for the inhabitants of the dense forest.

"Do we have any idea what we're about to encounter here?" Matt asked.

"Devimon, possibly as Piedmon, and the Dark Master of Nature: Rosemon." MetalGarurumon unfortunately replied.

"We're a little outnumbered, aren't we?"

"That we are."

"Maybe Matt should run back and get some help." Tai proposed.

"We won't have enough time," Said MetalGarurumon, "Besides I need Matt for strength. We might benefit from you running back for assistance."

"I'm not abandoning Kari." The tamer of courage said determinedly.

"Then it's settled. We all move on."

"Tai…!" A girl's voice hissed from behind. The three turned their heads to see Rika and Taomon dashing up behind them.

"Huh. Backup." MetalGarurumon murmured.

"What's going on?" The girl inquired when the two groups met.

"Devimon took Kari while we were hiding and dragged her here. We think one of the Dark Masters is in the space up ahead." Tai whispered.

"And you didn't bring any backup?" She hissed.

"You're here, aren't you?" Matt shrugged.

"We know you're out there," A feminine voice sounded from around the corner, "Why don't you just come out and show yourselves instead of hiding like cowards." The five looked at each other cautiously, but conceded in walking slowly around the corner and into the square room-like area of forest, with vines simulating walls and a throne made of wood and greenery. Sitting on it was a lady in red: a humanoid with black high heel boots that rose up all the way to her thighs, a red form fitting suit that exposed part of her stomach and chest, red gloves that rose just below her shoulders, a green cape with white on the inside that jutted around her head at the collar, and a face covered by a rose that took up all of her head but the woman's mouth. A vine wrapped around one wrist, snaked up her arm and around her torso, and down the other arm where it coiled tightly around the other wrist. Her bow-tied blonde hair could be seen hanging to her side. Above her, DemiDevimon stood triumphantly on the top of the throne.

"Hello Rosemon." MetalGarurumon growled angrily.

"Garun, it's been such a long time." Rosemon spoke.

"Garun?" Matt whispered.

"It was my name as a Royal Knight before WarGreymon (he was Waro) and I merged to become Omnimon, or Omega."

"I thought you had forgotten about me Garun." The witch smiled, turning attention back to her.

"I did for awhile, but it's hard to forget such a pretty face as yours. And your little messenger helped with that as well."

"I'm flattered." She said condescendingly.

"Don't be, harlot." MetalGarurumon barked. Rosemon stood up in opposition and the group could see the end of the vine on her right hand extend into a sharp sword and the end of her vine on the left slip down into the form of a thorny whip.

"That was uncalled for." She glared.

"Yet the kidnapping of Koromon and Kari wasn't?" MetalGarurumon cocked his head. "I thought you had more class than that, being a part of one of the trinity."

"Perhaps you shouldn't delve into a personal discussion with your clueless friends here." She nodded to the three humans and Taomon.

"They know everything, Rosemon. We keep no secrets from each other."

"Do you now?" She raised her voice. "Because it seems to me that until a few minutes ago when the five of you were talking in the hall, they had no idea who I was."

"Neither I nor Leopardmon kept that information from them, it just didn't occur to me to say anything until we had some idea of who we'd be dealing with."

"I'm sure."

"What is your game here Rosemon? Are you trying to separate us from our partners so we won't be powerful anymore? Well it is not going to work. Not even the likes of you can break our bond."

"I assure you Garun, our intentions are a lot more ambitious than that."

"And what would those ambitions be?"

"As if I'd tell you." She laughed.

"Where's my sister!? And Koromon!?" Tai suddenly demanded. His patience was running thin.

"Tell your pet to be quiet." Rosemon demanded.

"He's right," MetalGarurumon growled, "Where are they. We did not come here to talk about the past."

"Just as impatient as usual," She sighed, "Very well, if you want your allies back I will be more than happy to return them to you."

"Really?" MetalGarurumon asked skeptically.

"Of course." She smiled again, and then let her sword vine retract so that she could snap her fingers. A second later two vines rose out of the ground, each on opposite sides of Rosemon's throne. The vines then expanded to reveal that they were actually a set of vines that came together to form a column ten feet high. The middle of the columns then bulged out, and two holes opened in the middle of those bulges. The five observers gasped when they saw Agumon's and Kari's face pushed out of each hole.

"What is the meaning of this?" MetalGarurumon demanded.

"It's simple really," She laughed, "I only need one of these fools. Therefore I will give you a choice: either Kari or Agumon, I will only release the one you choose."

"You would have us choose one friend over the other?" MetalGarurumon grumbled.

"No, I would have Tai choose." She pointed to the tamer of courage, whose eyes bulged out when the wench pointed to him.

"You bitch." Rika snapped.

"Well, how about it Tai?" Rosemon laughed. "Who will it be: Your sister, who you swore to protect at all costs, or your loyal partner who you share a spiritual and… royal connection with?" She stared intensely at Tai, who gave the same glare back. She only had to wait a few seconds for an answer.

"I choose Kari." He choked a little while saying.

"As I knew you would." She nodded, and then snapped her fingers again. This time, Kari's vines disappeared and the girl dropped harmlessly to the ground. Tai rushed to her side.

"Kari, Kari, wake up!" He pleaded.

"Tai…?" Kari murmured as her eyes fluttered open.

"If you knew he would pick Kari, then why did you make him do that?" Rika groaned.

"Two reasons:" Rosemon smiled, "One, I wanted you all here. Two, I wanted to see the look on Tai's face when he chose his sister over Agumon. That was the last thing I needed to make these," She reached down to the arm of her chair and grabbed Tai's digivice and crest, "Useless to Tai. DemiDevimon, take Agumon and the digivice down to Vikemon. He will instruct you further." She tossed the small gadgets to the bat, who caught them with his talons and then digivolved to Devimon under a dark light. The demon then pulled Agumon out of the vine column and started a brisk walk down the hallway on the opposite end of the room.

"Why did you want us here?" MetalGarurumon barked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Rosemon smiled. A second later dozens of vines burst from the wall and enveloped the wolf in a tangled mess, then pulling him into the wall itself. Garun fortunately threw Matt off of his back before the vines enveloped him, so his partner was safe.

"MetalGarurumon!" Matt called in futility.

"Matt, watch out!" Tai called to the fellow tamer, who looked behind him just in time to see another set of vines race out of the wall and wrap around him. They then dragged him into the wall itself and he disappeared behind a dense layer of trees.

"Agh!" Four more vines appeared and grabbed at Kari's legs. She was halfway into the layer of trees before Tai caught her arms and started pulling her out.

"Don't worry Kari, I've got you." Tai grunted.

"Only two more." Rosemon smiled.

"Aussterben!" A highly charged wave of energy butchered its way through the treetops and landed right in Rosemon's gut. She flew backwards into the wall and was knocked momentarily unconscious.

"Matt and MetalGarurumon were dragged away by some vines!" Rika quickly explained as Leopardmon flew through the hole his attack had made and landed right in front of them.

"I saw," He replied, "Go help Kari and Tai. Taomon, you're with me."

**"Taomon digivolve to… Sakuyamon!"** The mega jumped to Leopardmon's side as they prepared themselves for combat with Rosemon.

"Tai, hold on!" Rika rushed to Tai's aid, who was at the moment halfway engrossed in the wall himself while still trying to prevent the vines from pulling Kari away. "I've got you!" She wrapped her arms around his chest and started to pull ferociously.

"That hurt!" Rosemon snapped as she dragged herself up to her feet via throne. "You'll pay for that Leopardmon!"

"We shall see!" Leopardmon growled right back at her.

"Yes we shall. Forbidden Temptation!" Then the mostly closed rose on her head blossomed and a flash of energy and petals blasted out of it, right towards Leopardmon and Sakuyamon.

"Talisman Sphere!" Sakuyamon quickly reacted and created a barrier in between herself and Leopardmon, and Rosemon's beam of energy. The blast collided with her shield and knocked her backwards, but fortunately Leopardmon pushed his palms into the defense and provided extra support. The two now found themselves struggling to keep the force field intact until Rosemon ran out of energy.

"Rika!" Was Tai's last word as the vines succeeded in fully dragging him into the tree thicket, with Rika's arms still around him. She was now being pulled into the wall herself.

"No!" She jammed her knees into two of the trees to stop the vines from dragging her in any further. "I just got you back!" The harder she protested, the brighter her crest glowed.

"Sakuyamon," Leopardmon grunted as he began to weaken from the stress of holding back Rosemon's incredibly long lasting beam.

"What is it Leopardmon?" Sakuyamon grunted as well.

"I once asked you if you loved your partner, that in the face of certain death, if you loved her with all of your heart and if you were willing to do anything for her safety."

"That was you!?" Sakuyamon was at first stunned, but then rolled her eyes." Of course it was you."

"Sakuyamon, I need to know the answer to that question. Under guaranteed defeat, do you love her?"

"Of course I do." Sakuyamon answered without a moment's hesitation.

"Good."

"Why?" Sakuyamon inquired.

"Because in the face of certain death, both you and Rika's actions will determine whether or not you have realized your destiny." Sakuyamon was about to inquire further, but she realized she didn't have to.

"I understand."

**R-O-Y-A-L D-I-G-I-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N**

**"Rika!"**

**"Sakuyamon!"**

**"Royal Digivolve to…" **The brightest light of any evolution except for Omnimon's occurred. **"KabukiSakuyamon!"**

Rosemon's (un-viewable) eye twitched violently as she stared at the Royal Knight. KabukiSakuyamon had intense human form. She wore huge loose red pants that pulled up to her waist and were bound by two belts. He wore a robe that exposed her neck and sleeves that were so big they hung down off of her arms. Her hair was long and silver, and it was tied down in two pony tails that draped down to her knees. Her eyes and forehead were covered in a yellow fox mask. She was holding a brown staff with a frilly cloth attached.

"Damn." Rosemon swore as she let her rose collapse back into a half bud and retracted her whip.

"Saka, how wonderful to see you again." Leopardmon gasped in discomfort as he dragged himself off of the floor.

"The same to you, Leopardmon." Saka nodded. "Thank you for helping me."

"Anything for a councilwomen." Leopardmon smiled.

"You may have gained your full potential, but you have made a crucial mistake," Rosemon gasped, "You let your friends be taken by my palace, and I assure you that it-"

"Oh please," Saka interrupted her, "You think I don't know an Ebonwumon when I see one?" She scoffed, and then flipped her staff to gain momentum before plunging it into the back of the giant turtle they were standing on.

***

"BWWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" A sound so loud and so horrible that every digimon and human involved in the battle had to drop to their knees and cover their ears in agonizing pain sounded far off in the forest.

***

Now as you can see, there is quite a bit of level manipulation in here. Leopardmon, Omnimon, Piedmon, and KabukiSakuyamon were all megas until I changed them. Piedmon and Leopardmon aren't even in the right digivolution line. In the Omnibus, I added 4 new digimon to the Royal Knights and made all but four different ones (I'll go ahead and tell you, because it's not that important: Gallantmon, Kentarousmon, UlforceVeedramon, and Magnamon) into ultimate megas. I also changed their lines so that two unrelated digimon like SaberLeomon and Leopardmon are in the same line. Not all of the lines are changed, just ones that don't have useful pre-digimon, like Leopardmon, Crusadermon, and Craniamon. All of the 11 Knights are still there, they just have new friends. KabukiSakuyamon is actually (obviously) Sakuyamon Kabuki Mode that I changed to ultimate mega, and there are two other knights that I edited the same way as well that you'll see later. I hope this makes sense; I didn't want to lose anybody who was stuck on the idea of the original 11 Royal Knights. For anybody who doesn't understand I'll be happy to e-mail a (hopefully) clearer explanation


	59. Crimson Princess, Ivory Queen

I know this is starting to feel just like the chapters on Spiral Mountain, but I promise it'll change soon. Also, Rosemon's last words are a quote from The Mummy, but it fit and was needed.

**Chapter Fifty Nine: Crimson Princess, Ivory Queen**

Tai, Matt, Kari, and MetalGarurumon fell miraculously safely to the ground after the giant Ebonwumon, a two headed gargantuan turtle with a dense forest on its back and servant of Rosemon, was stabbed in the back by Saka the KabukiSakuyamon and died. Naturally his data exploded and faded away, but there was a lot of data. So much data, in fact, that it took a few minutes to completely disipate. The unfortunate side effect was that all of the residents of Ebonwumon were on top of its shell, and Ebonwumon had a tall shell, so the fall was far. Fortunately six weeks in the digital world had toughened up the three humans, so the fall felt more like someone had pushed them rather than they had fallen probably fifty feet into a large dirt crater.

"Where is she?" Saka growled while scanning the environment for Rosemon, who had vanished upon Ebonwumon's destruction.

"She ran, the coward." Leopardmon replied. "But don't worry. She'll be back. We should tend to our friends right now." Saka nodded in agreement, and the two Royal Knights then pushed through the thinning field of data to their four friends lying in exhaustion on the ground.

"Tai," Saka spoke softly to the digidestined of courage, who was sprawled on the ground in a lazy trance, "Tai, focus." She snapped her fingers in front of him, and the boy came to his senses and looked at her.

"Sakuyamon?" He muttered. "Rika?" He mysteriously realized.

"Come on Tai, let's get you to safety." She lifted the boy up via his arm and walked him over to the other two digidestined, which Leopardmon had tended to. MetalGarurumon had lifted himself up and pulled his partially limp body over to the group.

"We should get back to the others," Leopardmon proposed while dragging Kari to her feet and placing the girl on his shoulder, "There's no telling how much trouble they've gotten themselves into since we have been gone."

"We only left ten minutes ago," Matt grunted while slinging Gabumon's arm over his shoulder and hoisting the dog up, "They can't have gotten into too much danger."

"Don't forget," Tai said, "With me and Leopardmon gone, Eric's probably in charge."

"Then in that case it is more imperative than ever that we return to the battlefield as soon as possible." Saka smiled. It was at that point that Tai, Kari, Matt, and Gabumon realized who was standing in front of them.

***

MegaGargomon stepped lightly on the ground, and a millisecond later he could hear the screech of an Apemon fading away. After the mysterious scream had rocketed throughout the forest, literally 99.999 percent of the warriors on the battlefield had been incapacitated. In fact, many of the Apemon who had been severely damaged by the battle did not have the strength to deal with the roar and, sequentially had… cerebral altercations. Fortunately, at the time of the noise, Izzy, Ken, and Eric had just launched a mega digivolution, and MegaGargomon, Imperialdramon, and HerculesKabuterimon had appeared just in time to be only slightly affected by the sound. After all, even though they didn't know what had made it, HerculesKabuterimon, Imperialdramon, and MegaGargomon were so large that even though Ebonwumon was even bigger, he could not phase them as much as anybody else. After the incident, the three had then taken to quickly destroying every Apemon within sight with punches, kicks, and light energy and/or missile attacks. Before they knew it, only a minor fraction of the Apemon remained, and the creatures who had survived were now retreating rapidly into the depths of the forest.

"Hurrah!" A collective cheer form the thousands of Flymon rang throughout the battlefield as they began to recover from the awful noise that had been inflicted upon them.

"Looks like they won," Tai commented as their group broke through the forest of intact trees and into the desimated battlefield, "I guess I didn't give Eric enough credit."

"Hey Tai, where have you been!?" Izzy called out to the group (of which Tai was still managing to lead the way) as they rejoined the celebration.

"Just out defeating Dark Masters, that's all." He winced to smile.

"Without us?" Izzy laughed as he ran up to the six, "Woah." He stopped laughing when he saw KabukiSakuyamon standing in the pack. "Sakuyamon?"

"Kari!" They turned to see Ophanimon pushing herself out of the crowd of Flymon and rushing to her partner.

"Ophanimon!" The girl cheered, and she ran up to her partner to be reunited.

"What's with the get-up Sakuyamon?" Eric inquired with hands behind his head, as he and the rest of the tamers and digimon arrived as a group to the reunion. "And where's Rika?"

"Right here." The double-voiced ultimate mega answered.

"Sakuyamon's a Royal Knight!" T.K. cheered. "What a surprise!" He added sarcastically.

"So you found one of the Dark Masters?" Joe inquired. "Did you defeat him/her?"

"No," Saka replied, "But I soon will."

"She will likely run," Leopardmon commented, "Now that we are all united, and we have these Flymon with us, she is most outnumbered."

"Is that what you think of me?" They heard an angry feminine voice inquire. "Nothing more than a coward?" The 26 souls turned around and were not surprised to see Rosemon standing at the edge of the recently made clearing with her hands behind her back.

"I'm surprised you didn't go crying to the other masters." Saka scoffed. "Did you just want to turn yourself in? No doubt by now you've deducted that I am much more powerful than you."

"Before I did that," Rosemon smiled, "I thought I'd try a different approach." She then pulled her hands out from behind her back to reveal an enormous white data orb hovering in her palms.

"What kind of digimon has a digi-core like that?" Koichi gasped.

"Ebonwumon," Saka growled with (unseen) slanted eyes.

"We must stop her before she absorbs that." Leopardmon ordered to no one in particular, and then jumped forward to attack. Saka was right behind him. Unfortunately they did not anticipate what Rosemon was going to do next, for they were stunned when thousands of regular-sized digi-cores started racing past them out of the sky and heading right towards Ebonwumon's digi-core.

"Where did they all come from?" Saka inquired quickly.

"The Apemon…" Izzy groaned while Eric and Ken's eyes twitched.

"How is she able to do that?" Tai gasped.

"She must have some sort of digital core imprisoning mechanism set up for her servants, although I can't imagine how." Gabumon muttered.

"Too late Knights!" Rosemon proclaimed. "You had your chance! Now it's my turn to shine, literally!" She then closed her fists around the large orb (which had been growing larger with each Apemon core that entered it) and not a moment too soon, for Saka and Leopardmon were milliseconds from striking down on her. Unfortunately for the digidestined they never made contact, for Rosemon exploded in a burst of light and energy that blinded Saka and Leopardmon and sent them sprawling into the ground a dozen feet away. The other 24 observers (give or take 10,000) had to shield their eyes to prevent blindness themselves, as Rosemon's red clothing and hair/flower were flushed away and she was transformed into a pure white form.

"She hasn't changed much." Izzy commented once the light had died down enough that it was safe for his eyes to examine things again.

"She is now Rosemon Burst Mode," Leopardmon replied, "A mega with added power. A normal mega digimon would not have more than double or tripled their power by a burst mode and be nowhere near the power of an ultimate mega…"

"But a Dark Master mega?"

"Rosemon was already close to ultimate mega strength. If her power has doubled or tripled, then we are all in serious trouble."

"From red queen to white queen, eh?" Ken chuckled nervously to Eric.

"Isn't the white queen supposed to be nicer?" Eric inquired even though he already knew the answer.

"In this case, I don't think so." Ken regrettably replied.

"Are you ready to fight me now Saka?" Rosemon laughed in demonic joy. "Or is the shoe on the other foot, and you are the one who should now be running?"

"Swords of Beauty and Truth!" Saka's command rang throughout the forest, and a second later two flaming spirit foxes appeared out of thin air and criss-crossed each other while aiming for Rosemon.

"Pathetic." Rosemon shook her head. "Rose Whip!" Her left arm vine elongated into a thorn-covered whip, and she lashed it forward just as both foxes were about to collide with her. Needless to say, the attack didn't work.

"Help me fight her." Saka spoke to Leopardmon.

"It will be my pleasure." Leopardmon answered.

"Dragon Wheel!"

"Aussterben!"

Saka jumped up and began spinning as her champion flaming attack, while Leopardmon commenced with firing blast after electric blast from the tip of his blade.

"Huh! You fools…" Rosemon said mostly to herself, and then threw her whip-less palm into the ground, where a second later a wall of ivy burst from the earth and shielded her. Saka and Leopardmon were helpless as the wall neutralized the attack, and then Rosemon jumped up to finally go on the offensive.

"Electro-shocker," A quiet yet booming voice fired an orb of electricity at Rosemon, which she effectively dodged and kicked into the forest so that all it did was make a few trees leaf-less. She looked up to see HerculesKabuterimon passing over her quickly, so as to not become the victim that he had tried to make out of Rosemon.

"Just because they're not Royal Knights it doesn't mean we can't help." Eric stated.

"You'll have to do better than that!" Rosemon yelled into the air while throwing her arms out for emphasis. "It will take more than a mere mega to defeat me!"

"How about 11 of them!" Announced an angry voice from ahead of her. She looked down to see MetalGarurumon, Ophanimon, Seraphimon, Puppetmon, MetalSeadramon, HiAndromon, Diaboromon, Zudomon, MegaGargomon, and Imperialdramon rushing her.

"Still not enough…" She hissed. "Forbidden Temptation!" Her rose hair blossomed and fired a wave of energy at the 10 megas rushing towards her. They quickly parted so that the beam shot harmlessly into the sky (as they were far enough away to avoid it) and circled around her to attack from all sides.

"Metal Wolf Claw!"

"Celestial Arrow!"

"Strike of the Seven Stars!"

"Puppet Pummel!"

"River of Power!"

"Lightning Blade!"

"Cable Crusher!"

"Thor's Hammer!"

"Mega Barrage,"

"Positron Laser,"

"Horn Buster,"

Rosemon didn't dodge any of the attacks. Rather, she let all eleven digimon come within an inch of obliterating her, before lashing out her whip and knocking all the attacks back into their owners' guts. With the exception of Diaboromon, all of the attacks exploded into their owners and forced them to degenerate immediately. As rookie digimon fell to the ground, some of the Flymon loyally rushed to catch them.

"As I said before, it is still not enough." Rosemon hissed to nobody as the smoke cleared. She watched with glee as 10 Flymon rushed to deliver the wounded digimon to their partners while Diaboromon struggled to get back on his feet. She flicked her wrist, this time stiffening the whip until it was as unyielding as a sword, and was about to strike Diaboromon with a kill shot, when Leopardmon suddenly popped up in front of her with his sword extended.

"Did you forget one of us?" The lion inquired rhetorically as he spun around rapidly with his sword aimed right for Rosemon. The white witch then flicked her stiffened vine upwards so that it blocked Leopardmon's rapier from piercing her stomach, and used it to push him back and come in for an attack of her own. Unfortunately for her she failed to notice the robed warrior to her right skulking towards her with her staff weapon at the ready.

"Ayah!" Rosemon groaned in pain as Saka jumped up behind her and stabbed her in the back with her staff while Leopardmon distracted her. While Rosemon was incapacitated, Leopardmon then took the opportunity to slash at her stomach with his sword and force her to double over and twitch in pain as the wounds from both sides prevented her from nursing either one of them.

"Are we still the pathetic ones?" Saka smiled triumphantly while she stared down at the trembling Rosemon. In response, Rosemon slashed her whip at the human-fox, who blocked by slapping her staff against the whip and letting it wrap around harmlessly. Saka then tugged harshly and snapped the whip in half so that it snaked off of Rosemon's arm and allowed Saka to toss it into the bushes.

"Damn you!" Rosemon lunged forward to attack again, and this time Saka flipped her staff into a defensive stance. Rosemon bounced off of the staff and then Saka rushed in for a counter-attack, but Rosemon dodged and swept her leg across the ground in an attempt to trip the fox. Saka flipped over to avoid Rosemon while Leopardmon struck at the woman with his sword. Rosemon barely shoved away before Leopardmon's rapier struck the earth and jammed itself in the dirt, Leopardmon unable to remove it.

"Yah!" Rosemon jumped away just before Saka performed the same move with her staff, except this time the weapon did not get jammed in the ground. Saka recovered quickly and began jabbing the staff at Rosemon's gut in an attempt to heighten the pain from the wound Leopardmon's sword had made. Rosemon rapidly pulled back to dodge however, and Saka's attack missed every time. Unfortunately for Rosemon, after a few seconds of this Leopardmon finally gave in and stopped trying to pull his sword out from its resting place, and then lunged at Rosemon with a flurry of punches and kicks. Rosemon rolled backwards to avoid Leopardmon's fury until she was forced to leap to the side to dodge a strike made by Saka from behind.

"Gah!" Out of exhaustion and anger Rosemon flicked her remaining vine off of her wrist, where it stretched and stiffened into a thorny sword which Rosemon jabbed at Saka quickly. This opened up Saka for a surprising attack and, unfortunately for Rosemon, a finishing move. Once Rosemon thrust her sword forward, Saka held her breath to help absorb the pain and then grabbed the sword with her hand so that it sliced through her palm and was jammed within the appendage. Rosemon, with a surprised and mortified look on her face, tried desperately to pull away, but Saka ended that dream by snapping the sword (and thereby relaxing it into its whip state) and wrapping it around her wrist so that the vine could not be pulled away. That didn't inhibit Rosemon from pulling away as violently as she could as the futility of the situation began to sink in. Saka then calmly lifted her staff, and prepared to strike Rosemon's gut wound.

"Any last words?" Saka smiled.

"Drop dead!" Rosemon yelled, and kicked her boot forward so that her heel drove into Saka's gut, prompting the humanoid fox to squeal in pain and release her grip on the vine whip that had pierced her palm. Before Rosemon could drag the vine away, however, a sword sliced into her back and pushed out of the front of her stomach. "AAAGGGHHH!!!!!!!!!"

"I was thinking exactly the same thing," Saka gasped while struggling to her feet as Leopardmon slid his crimson stained sword out of Rosemon's gut and the botanical girl fell to her knees. "Drop dead." And with that, Saka flicked her staff upwards, placed it in both palms (with a little difficulty in the left one) and swung at Rosemon's head like a baseball bat. With a sickening crack, Rosemon's head snapped to the side and dropped to the ground with a defining thud. Saka and Leopardmon watched her body for what seemed like hours, before it finally began to fade away.

"I do have some last words…" Rosemon coughed as the data around her head began to digitize.

"And what would they be?" Saka scoffed.

"Death… is only the beginning." She stuttered before the last piece of data from her blood stained face flaked away and spiraled into the air.

"Do you think that was just meant to psych us out, or a legitimate threat?" Leopardmon inquired while staring up into the air.

"With the Dark Masters, we can never know." Saka replied, "This is the second time I've killed her now, so anything is possible."

"We should go ahead and keep moving," Said Leopardmon, "If what I'm assuming is correct, then Vikemon should be attempting to dominate the tundra right now."

"If we don't go to the aid of the resisting forces in the tundra soon, then Vikemon and the army he has sided with will obliterate them and our chances for success will decrease dramatically." The newly evolved Royal Knight concurred.

"We got lucky with Rosemon, she had the most humanity out of all of the Dark Masters."

"And your help reminding me of my Royal Knight qualifications beforehand made it that much easier. We will have no such luck with the other five." She whispered this.

"I will make it as easy for them as possible once you degenerate." Leopardmon responded. "I will divulge as much information as possible to Royal digivolutions without describing to them who is a knight and who is not."

"Be careful though, as I'm sure you heard T.K. say, it wasn't exactly a surprise that I am a Royal Knight."

"I'll be careful."

***

Events with Leopardmon moved fast. Soon after defeating Rosemon, Saka degenerated in order to conserve energy. The group then waited a few hours for Rika and Viximon to wake up. During that time, Leopardmon indulged in another explanation for the digi-destined. He explained that somehow by being digidestined, that entitled those with Royal Knight partners to combine with said digimon when they achieved their ultimate mega form. This also meant that since the Royal Knight was combined with their partner, they didn't get a first evolution energy boost so much as a complete power up, so that a Royal Knight was as strong as they could possibly get when combined with a human. He didn't know how this worked, but the battles of Omnimon v. Piedmon and KabukiSakuyamon v. Rosemon had proven that fact. He also explained that the basic criteria for digivolving to ultimate mega was different from the mega and ultimate criteria in that both partners had to show absolute devotion to their virtues under certain death for the evolution to occur. The destined were least thrilled about this.

An hour or so after he had explained these facts to the digidestined, Rika and Viximon woke up, and Leopardmon went into another explanation, this time to the tamer of love about what had happened. Fortunately for Viximon, her memories as a Royal Knight had all returned, and so she needed no such explanation. After this, Leopardmon immediately decided that they should keep moving, and the 27 gathered themselves and prepared to move off. The Flymon (who had had their own array of reactions and activities after the death of Rosemon) gathered some fruits, water, and edible plants for them in some organic containers and had left them for the destined to use before they departed for their hive somewhere in the massive forest to tell the rest of the region that Rosemon had been destroyed. Therefore it was easy for the 27 digimon and digidestined to grab their bags and start walking towards their next destination which, they all concurred, would be the tundra where Vikemon had most likely settled.

Fortunately their journey was not eventful. Aside from the stray and far in between Apemon or other ally of Rosemon, they didn't run into any trouble. The group marched for the next three days (all of the digimon except for Leopardmon were too tired to carry anyone anywhere) until they found themselves about halfway through the forest, at which Wormmon determined that he had the strength to digivolve. After transforming into the dragon mode of Imperialdramon, he ducked down so that his 26 allies could board his back and he was off. He rose above the tree line and flew with incredible speed (though not nearly with the power of some members of the group, i.e. MetalGarurumon) towards the wasteland, which could be seen in the distance. They didn't bother following the "yellow brick road" that had appeared once Callismon was destroyed. Being ambushed by an army in the tens of thousands twice in one week did not seem like an appealing thought.

"We're getting close to the wasteland," Ken observed after a few hours, "Do you want to take a break Imperialdramon?"

"It would be better if he didn't," Leopardmon interrupted, "The wasteland is not a hospitable area. The heat is excruciating, the air is tainted, and the concept of shade does not exist there."

"The air is tainted with what?" T.K. inquired.

"The wasteland used to be a part of the forest, but during the civil war many factories emerged in that region. Trees were consumed for space and fuel, and the ground, lakes and streams, and air were all polluted with chemicals. We do not want to be there for more than a few hours."

"I can make it." Imperialdramon nodded. "We'll stop once we get to the tundra."

"The wasteland isn't a very long region," Leopardmon added, "The journey can be made on foot in one day; however that journey is not a very healthy one."

"How you doing Rika?" Tai stood up, walked over to, and then sat down next to his friend, who was positioned a lot farther from the rest of the group, including her partner. Imperialdramon had the very appealing (and to Tentomon, irritating) ability to create a dome of energy over his back which blocked air from pushing against his riders and keeping any of them from having to grip onto the monster's rigid back tightly.

"I'm fine." Rika answered emotionlessly.

"Are you sure? You look like you're gonna be sick." Tai smiled.

"It's just the flight. I've never liked riding on the back of huge digimon." She answered just as nonchalantly, her face the only thing that broke the apathy.

"Or could it be that three days ago you found out you were a super hero?" During their hiking, the destined had been strangely silent to one another, too nervous to speak of anything other than small talk. Tai was the first one to break that silence (although T.K. and Kari had tried to, only inhibited due to the discouragement of their siblings).

"Yeah, it might be that."

"It's a weird feeling, knowing that your partner is one of the most respected and powerful digimon in the entire world isn't it?" Tai asked.

"It's even weirder knowing that I combined with a digimon and I don't even remember it." Rika commented. "Why is that again?"

"Leopardmon said that it has something to do with the fact that once our partners returned to the ultimate mega level, all of their memories returned. Since they have thousands of years of memories, it's a little too much for us to comprehend and we kind of block it all out."

"Right."

"is there something else that's bothering you Rika?"

"It's just a lot to take in such a short period of time, that's all." She answered. "All of the evil digidestined are on our side now, my partner is really an all powerful master of the digital world, we're facing the most powerful threat to this world that it has ever known, and I was combined with Renamon, I was a part of her, and I fought with her. It's just… a lot."

"I guess I haven't given it that much thought. My mind has been on other things."

"We'll find him Tai, don't worry." She said comfortingly.

"Thanks, but it's not just Agumon that worries me, although that's a big part of it."

"What else is wrong?"

"It's Kari; every single enemy we've faced in this world seems to think that she's just some sort of automatic target for kidnapping. It's getting really stressful… and annoying."

Tai and Rika's conversation didn't last for much longer. After a few more minutes, their line of thought began to encroach upon the events of Spiral Mountain's castle, and the two soon found reasons to excuse themselves from the conversation (Tai: Kari, and Rika: Renamon). The remainder of the trip was mostly quiet, interrupted only by a few questions by Izzy to Leopardmon, and a discussion between Ken and Eric of their views on the philosophical references in _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_ and _Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There_, prompted by a conversation between Matt, Yolei, T.K., and Zoe about Rosemon.

After a few hours of flying through hot and disgusting air, a sudden fresh and frigid feeling gained the group's attention. "We're here," Imperialdramon grumbled, and the team looked over his head to bear witness to the hilly tundra that was now before them.

"I think this was about 90 percent of the ice territory." Joe commented.

"Good, then we'll know our way around." Kari joked.

"We must be especially careful here." Leopardmon stated.

"Why is that?" Asked Koichi.

"Rosemon's specialty within the Dark Masters was as a tactician," Said Gabumon, "That's how she ambushed us and tricked Tai, Matt, and myself into isolating ourselves from the rest of you. Vikemon's specialty is his ruthlessness."

"Sounds nice." Eric murmured.

"Like his kingdom, Vikemon has a cold and uncaring heart, and he won't hesitate to kill even if there is a high amount of risk for him." Renamon continued. "He only finds pleasure in inflicting as much physical pain as possible on his victims."

"We can't be defensive with Vikemon," Leopardmon added, "We need to strike as hard and as fast as possible." A missile fired at Imperialdramon's underbelly right after Leopardmon said this.


	60. The Descent of Man

I've been referring to the digidestined, their partners, and Leopardmon as the 27, but Agumon is not with them so they should really be the 26. Sorry.

**Chapter Sixty: The Descent of Man**

"Hey, that's my mp3 player." Zoe observed from the bench she was sitting on as Eric pulled the digital device out of his pocket.

"Really? I'm sorry; I found it on the ground somewhere… I think." Eric shrugged and walked across the frigid hall to hand the device over to its rightful owner.

"Matt, when I leant this to you I figured you'd take good care of it," Zoe growled at her fellow destined a few seats away as Eric dropped the music player into her hand, "Not leave it in the dirt."

"You didn't lend it to me Zoe." Matt shrugged. No one else in the icy hallway came forward, so Zoe dropped the subject.

"What in the hell could Leopardmon and those Centarumon possibly be talking about?" Eric shivered once he returned to his frozen seat, clutching his upper arms to circulate heat.

"This is too cold to be hell…" Yolei muttered, "It's more like Pluto."

"The d-deepest circle of hell is a frozen l-lake," Ken stuttered, "I think we're pretty close."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Joe shrugged, "It feels fine in here."

"Says the ice man." Tai joked. Tai's eyes scanned the white and blue hallway, filled with chairs and benches that lined the walls, that they found themselves in. The events that had led them here was intense all the same, but nothing unusual for them. A squad of ultimate digimon had opened fire on Imperialdramon upon their arrival, and they were quickly swarmed by the team. Instead of rebelling against their attackers, however, Leopardmon took a more diplomatic approach.

Leopardmon easily discovered that they had recognized Imerialdramon from their years of oppression under the evil digidestined (at which time Ken, Yolei, Zoe, Koichi, Joe, and Kazu dropped their heads in shame), and felt obliged to attack the (what they thought was a) demon. Leopardmon grilled further and learned that the group was a patrol of the barrier of the land that the army not aligned with Vikemon had claimed in the last few days. The destined rejoiced, for once Leopardmon explained who they were and the situation they were in, the digimon were more than happy to oblige (some more than others) and take them to their colonel to talk shop. The leader was stashed in a finely carved ice fortress on the side of a large bluff, where the 13 digidestined and their partners waited in one of the fortress' many identical hallways (this one with benches and chairs carved out of the ice), just outside of the colonel's office.

"Way to go Tai, you made an ambiguous joke and you don't even realize it." Eric whispered in Tai's ear as to not offend Joe.

"Huh?"

"Jeez Eric, you ever hear of tact?" Terriermon muttered from Izzy's shoulder, who was sitting on the other side of Tai.

"That's why I didn't say it out loud." Eric grunted.

"Say what out loud?" Joe overheard. Terriermon breathed in to speak, but Eric gave him a look as if to say "talk and see what happens".

"Nothing." Terriermon piped quickly. "Wasn't that funny a joke anyway."

"It was plenty funny." Eric snapped.

"Yeah, for a b-rated movie." Terriermon laughed.

"Well at least I don't have a catchphrase that I don't even know the meaning of." Eric shrugged casually. "Momentai…" He whispered with a condescending voice.

"I know what it means!" Terriermon growled in frustration.

"No you don't Terriermon." Izzy said quickly.

"Who's side are you on?"

"And what's wrong with you?" Tentomon suddenly slapped his partner's leg with his talon.

"What was that for?" Eric glared.

"One, for comedic relief; two, because I'm the only one you're supposed to get into arguments with. Well, me and Rika."

"You're complaining that I'm not arguing with you?" Eric mocked confusion.

"I'm just asking for a little loyalty."

"Jeez, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were so protective of our sacred argumentative bond."

"You're very funny." Tentomon said apathetically.

"Destined," Leopardmon exited the room he had been in and surprised the group, "We have a slight issue."

"What's the issue?" Tai goaned as he let his head roll against the wall.

"Well, you see, this brigade has been stationed here because it is near the location of Vikemon's fortress-"

"So they know where he is? That sounds like good news."

"It is good news. The bad news is that they have only recently set up base here, and Vikemon has discovered this army's whereabouts and have sent a brigade to attack this base."

"How big is a brigade?" Tai gulped.

"A lot more than they have here." Eric murmured.

"This base only has a battalion, around 1500 soldiers, stationed here; while Vikemon is sending a few thousand. It wasn't the smartest strategy on our ally's part, but it was the most they could afford to spare."

"So we'll never be able to make it to Vikemon's fortress because of that army, right?" Kazu questioned.

"No, we can. There is a side path around a mountain close by that leads right to his fortress."

"But we can't just leave these digimon here to be destroyed, can we?" Rika spoke.

"Colonel Armormon has ordered an evacuation of the base, they are to retreat as fast as possible, but it is likely that Vikemon's forces will catch up to him." Leopardmon nodded.

"But if we stand and fight with them, then the digimon will have a great chance of stopping the invasion." Zoe realized.

"And therein lies our other problem," Leopardmon said.

"What's the problem?" Matt asked. "We stay here, fight off Vikemon's army, and go after him after we're done. Simple as that."

"It is not as simple as that," Leopardmon shook his head, "You see, the same scouts that reported the advancing brigade also reported that Vikemon was preparing to move out of his fortress."

"Huh?" Came a combined response.

"Yes, apparently Vikemon does not want his location disclosed to his enemies, so he has decided to move to a new base."

"So if we stay here to fight off his army, then Vikemon will disappear and we won't be able to find him." Salamon realized.

"Exactly."

"So what do we do?" T.K. inquired.

"I don't know," Leopardmon answered, "I've thought of a few possibilities but none of them are very practical or ideal."

"I've got an idea." Mushroomon suddenly spoke.

"Really?" Yolei asked surprised.

"Yes really." Mushroomon glared.

"No, I mean really? You're contributing something to the conversation?" Mushroomon didn't answer. Instead he addressed Leopardmon.

"We know that Gabumon and Renamon are Royal Knights. But except for you three, we have no idea who's a Royal Knight or not. IF you could tell us who isn't a knight, then those of us could stay here and help defend the digimon while the rest of you go on ahead and face Vikemon."

"That's… preposterous!" Leopardmon snapped.

"You wouldn't have to tell all of us," Keramon agreed, "Just maybe 3 or 4 would do. Only five of us could possibly be Royal Knights now and there are 10 possibilities left, so tell just a few of us and the rest won't know if they're knights or not."

"It's risky," Tai added, "But they're right. It's the best idea we've got."

"I- I just don't think- It's too…" Leopardmon was at a loss for words, but it was quickly becoming apparent that the digidestined would not take no for an answer.

"The other five won't have to know Leopardmon," Gabumon nodded, "As long as you don't reveal to one who isn't a Royal Knight if he/she is or isn't, then they'll have no idea of knowing."

"I guess we have no other choice," Leopardmon sighed, "But who to tell." He pondered.

"Mushroomon, Betamon, Gomamon, and Hagurumon. You four are not Royal Knights." Renamon made the decision for him.

"Nevermind then."

"Hm…" Gomamon sighed. "I figured it wasn't me. I haven't been able to digivolve to mega for a week anyway."

"Rika…" Renamon gave her partner a look, which signaled the girl to speak up.

"Renamon and I will stay here too, to help out." The red headed girl stated.

"Are you sure that's a good idea Saka?" Leopardmon asked his fellow knight.

"Yeah, we shouldn't spare anyone unless it's absolutely essential." Tai urged.

"The digimon here are in for a tough fight," Said Renamon, "They will need a lot of help."

"If we're all decided then I think we should get a move on," Said Gabumon, The more time we waste, the more time Vikemon has to escape."

"With the fifteen of us," Tentomon began, "I can digivolve to MegaKabuterimon and get us there much quieter. How far away is the fortress?"

"Sixty miles away." Armormon walked out of his office and answered.

"Oh." Tentomon gasped. "Faster too."

***

They had arrived. Once everyone determined what would be done, the team reluctantly said goodbye to each other, and each side went their separate ways. Yolei, Mushroomon, Zoe, Betamon, Joe, Gomamon, Kazu, Hagurumon, Rika, and Renamon followed Armormon to prepare for the coming invasion. Leopardmon, Tai, Matt, Gabumon, Izzy, Terriermon, Kari, Salamon, T.K., Patamon, Koichi, Keramon, Ken, and Wormmon followed a summoned Gazimon to where the path to Vikemon's palace began. They were led out of the fortress and away from the icy butte, past the icy field which was the direct route to Vikemon's fortress and pointed over to a lonely mountain a few miles away. They learned that if they flew around the mountain that they could avoid the battlefield without being spotted by the advancing army, which could be seen in the distance. After that Tentomon warp digivolved to MegaKabuterimon and his passengers boarded. He flew them to and around the mountain, where they continued flying until they were behind a set of hills a few miles away from the tall fortress, which resembled a pure white gothic cathedral.

"What should we do when we get inside?" Koichi inquired.

"What we always do: rely on our partner's skills and our luck to find out who's a Royal Knight." Eric answered.

"Don't you think it would have been a good idea if Rika had stayed with us?" T.K. asked. "After all, she and Renamon are the only ones who can actually digivolve to a Royal Knight right now."

"Renamon hasn't regained the strength to evolve to ultimate mega yet Takeru," Leopardmon answered, "Besides; don't you and Patamon want to find out if you're knights?" He gave a light smile.

"Why can't Leopardmon just tell us who's a Royal Knight and who isn't again?" Salamon inquired.

"Same reasons we weren't allowed to know what our crest power was Salamon." Eric answered. "There's such a thing as too much knowledge."

"There will be guards placed all over this area," Said Leopardmon, "And we don't have any sort of special equipment for getting past them."

"So we're going in guns-a-blazin' eh?" Ken quipped.

"That we are." Leopardmon answered.

***

"Aussterben!"

"Metal Wolf Claw!"

"Sefirot Crystals!"

"Strike of the Seven Stars!"

"Hyper Blaster,"

"Positron Laser,"

"Gargo Missile,"

"Web Wrecker!"

They spared no expense. The seven partner digimon warp digimon evolved to mega and began to pound on the unsuspecting guards.

"Look, up there!" Kari pointed to Vikemon's fortress from her position on Ophanimon's back. Her team mates peaked up to spot an exodus of what was probably all of the palace's digimon except Vikemon (for Gabumon had told them what he looked like) heading right towards them.

"Get them while they're clumped together!" Leopardmon ordered. "Aussterben!" The ultimate mega wolf did a flip into the air and sliced a blade of energy at the crowd, which slammed into its center and obliterated a sizeable portion of the monsters.

"Ice Wolf Bite!" MetalGarurumon skidded to a halt and unleashed a flurry of missiles from compartments all over his body that rained down on the digimon that were advancing closest to him.

"Heaven's Charm!" Ophanimon materialized an energy cross the size of a large coffin and started knocking the enemy digimon away with it as if it were a hammer.

"Cable Crusher!" Diaboromon fired his arms at two of the largest digimon (a Garudamon and a Brimpmon) and decimated them.

"Mega Barrage," A flurry of missiles was unleashed from compartments all over MegaGargomon's body.

"Desperado Blaster," Imperialdramon opened his palms and opened automatic fire at the large crowd, making sure to avoid Ophanimon, who was immersed in the crowd.

"Excalibur!" Seraphimon activated his blade and began battle with a Zanbamon, the only mega in the crowd and probably their leader.

"Double Horn Buster," HerculesKabuterimon charged his horn and plowed through the right side of the helpless army.

"That was quick." Tai observed the mess that was the defeated digimon reinforcements from MegaGargomon's shoulder.

"Let's get inside, quickly." Leopardmon ordered. The eight digimon then sped as fast as possible into the palace, where Vikemon awaited.

***

"Lord Vikemon," An IceDevimon limped his way into Vikemon's chamber, a huge frozen cave with ice pillars. "I am sorry sir, but the digidestined have arrived, and they have blown through our defenses and our on their way to your chamber." He looked up at his leader, the five story Dark Master who resembled a walrus. Except this Walrus had white fur, legs, feet, and hands. He had a black belt around his waist with a red cloth that dropped between his two gargantuan legs, and a furry tan coat that looked to be skinned from something due to the claws hanging from the front, draped over his back. A circular yellow and blue shield was strapped to both of his shoulders and black belt straps laced his arms and chest. Two large maces connected by chain were strapped to the monster's back as well, and his large black fists each had a silver ring on them. Cold blue eyes completed the viking's persona.

"I hadn't expected them to get here so soon," Vikemon sighed, "I thought we'd be clear of here by then. We needed those troops."

"What would you have me do master?" IceDevimon coughed.

"Round up all the survivors and have them clear the fortress, I will handle the tamers myself."

"I don't mean to doubt you my liege, but is that the best idea? After all, Rosemon was obliterated by them."

"Don't worry Lieutenant, you'll find that I'm a lot more capable at handling these humans than Rosemon was. And even if I'm not, that will serve our goals just fine."

"Sir?" IceDevimon cocked his head.

"You are not meant to understand. Move out of here and take any survivors to our camp in the 42nd quadrant."

"As you command, master." IceDevimon bowed and exited the room. Vikemon then returned to his huge icy throne and awaited the arrival of the tamers.

***

"Isn't it a little weird that we've met no resistance in this entire fortress?" T.K. inquired as Imperialdramon Dragon Mode sailed through the enormous halls of Vikemon's base searching for the Dark Master in question.

"We probably destroyed almost everyone here when we first came in," Matt reasoned, "Anyone else probably sees Imperialdramon coming through here and is too scared to do anything about it."

"I can smell Vikemon," MetalGarurumon barked as he galloped beside Imperialdramon on the floor. After they had penetrated the fort, Imperialdramon had mode changed so that the digidestined could catch a ride with him, and HerculesKabuterimon and MegaGargomon had degenerated since they were twice as tall as the hallway and had caught a ride on Imperialdramon along with Ophanimon, Seraphimon, and Leopardmon. MetalGarurumon and Diaboromon had been running/flying beside/in front of Imperialdramon. "We're close."

"There's a large door up ahead," Diaboromon announced, "That might be his chambers."

"Then we should let ourselves in." Leopardmon determined.

***

Vikemon drummed his fingers against the arm of his icy chair, waiting patiently for the arrival of his enemies. He didn't have to wait long, for within the next few minutes his tall oak double doors exploded open and a trio of solitary digimon rushed in (one of which had a group of humans and monsters on his back).

"The digidestined, what a surprise." Vikemon said apathetically to the group of newcomers, as the eight digidestined piled out into the hallway so that the digimon could have room to fight in the large frozen chamber.

"Vikemon, we are here to help one of our fellow Royal Knights regain their power and memory. Your destruction will be the tool with which we do that." Leopardmon stated.

"I figured as much." Vikemon sighed. He reached over to a tall side table, where a wooden goblet filled with red liquid was resting peacefully, and took a sip from it. "So, should we go ahead and get this over with?" He placed the goblet down and pushed himself out of the throne.

"That we will." Leopardmon nodded.

**"Tentomon, warp digivolve to… HerculesKabuterimon!"**

**"Terriermon, warp digivolve to… MegaGargomon!"**

"Die Vikemon!" Leopard lunged forward first to strike with his sword. Vikemon scoffed and then jumped out of his chair as well, snatching the nun chuck mallets off of his back and swinging them violently at the German feline. Leopardmon pulled up his sword to block and was knocked across the room, stunned but unharmed.

"Gargo Missile," MegaGargomon hopped forward and fired his two massive shoulder missiles at Vikemon, who spun his maces to block them. MegaGargomon then ran forward to "Power Pummel." He threw his fists rapidly to try and strike at Vikemon.

"Fool!" Vikemon dipped his arm down and swept at MegaGargomon's chin, knocking MegaGargomon clear across the room and slamming him into a wall, where he degenerated and fell tiredly to the ground.

"Terriermon!" Izzy bolted into the room and rushed to comfort his wounded partner.

"Who is next?" Vikemon smiled wickedly.

"Positron Laser!" Imperialdramon mode changed and blasted his weapon at Vikemon, his war cry extreme discomfort to everyone but Vikemon, Leopardmon, and HerculesKabuterimon. Vikemon pushed off of his heel and dodged the blast; however it obliterated his throne instead. Vikemon's goblet was thrown onto the floor and spilled a heat radiating liquid onto the ice.

"You okay Terriermon?" Izzy groaned after recovering from Imperialdramon's scream.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I guess I got a little carried away." Terriermon grumbled.

"It's okay buddy."

"Arctic Blizzard!" Vikemon popped his palm open as Imperialdramon was rushing him and the dragon-warrior was flash frozen.

"Agh! Imperialdramon!" Ken gasped.

"Viking Axe!" Vikemon spun his nun chucks and smashed Imperialdramon's stomach so that he crumbled in a rain of ice. A moment later, a wingless pint-sized version of Ex-Veemon rolled in front of Ken's feet.

"Wormmon?" Ken gasped.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." His partner groaned with a slight lisp. "Oh?" He gasped when he heard his irregular voice.

"What's going on with Wormmon?" Koichi inquired.

"Wormmon and Veemon are one entity, it is natural that they might alternate forms during degeneration." Leopardmon spoke before jumping forward to attack as well. "Everybody, we need to move together: Aussterben!"

"Hyper Blaster." HerculesKabuterimon slammed his fists together and fired a highly energized blast at the Dark Master.

"Celestial Arrow!" Ophanimon called upon her ultimate attack to strike at the walrus' heart.

"Strike of the Seven Stars!" Ophanimon pulled his fists together and blasted at Vikemon Dragonball Z style.

"Web Wrecker!" A large green energy pellet blasted from Diaboromon's chest.

"Metal Wolf Claw!" MetalGarurumon boomed an icy frost from his mouth at Vikemon's face.

"Nice try…" Vikemon growled and jammed his maces into the ground. This caused the ice to jut upward and create not only a shield around him, but a field of spiky ice under the six digimon's feet. Diaboromon, Leopardmon, and HerculesKabuterimon dodged just in time but Ophanimon, Seraphimon, and MetalGarurumon were caught in the ice just before it sunk back into the ground and degenerated. Matt, Kari, and T.K. rushed to get their partners and pulled them back into the hallway before Vikemon had the chance to spot them.

"Want to try that again?" Vikemon smiled as the ice shield around him lowered.

"We're down five megas," Diaboromon hissed, "This isn't good."

"You're right, it isn't." Vikemon almost laughed. "Vulcan's Hammer!" He slammed both mallets down together and two streams of electricity shockwaved towards them.

"Aussterben!" Leopardmon slashed his sword parallel to the ground so that it created a shield of electricity that blocked the two streams, but to Leopardmon's dismay they just split into two separate directions and instead smashed into the unsuspecting HerculesKabuterimon and Diaboromon. They were thrown backwards and degenerated just before reaching the wall so that Tentomon and Keramon flew through the hallway instead, where they were caught by their partners.

"Damn," Leopardmon swore, "That was the last one."

"What's the matter Leopardmon?" Vikemon laughed, "Out of Royal Knights?"

"I'm still here!" Leopardmon blasted back.

"Not for long!" Vikemon retorted.

"I beg to differ: Aussterben!"

"Vulcan's Hammer!" Two static blasts raced towards each other and slammed with ferocious equality. Leopardmon then took the opportunity to jump over the electricity and slash at Vikemon, but the walrus-man had the same idea. He swung his mallet sideways and tried to knock Leopardmon unconscious, but Leopardmon flipped over and dodged. Unfortunately for Leopardmon Vikemon used his second mace to jab Leopardmon's back while the monster was in mid flip, and knocked Leopardmon into the middle of the floor, paralyzed and/or unconscious.

"Leopardmon!" Izzy cried in panic.

"He needs help." Terriermon moaned tiredly.

"But how can we?"

"I have some energy," Terriermon groaned, "He's our friend. We can't let anything happen."

"Then go get him." Izzy nodded.

"Viking Axe!" Vikemon pulled both of his maces together and swung them down at Leopardmon in an attempt to destroy Leopardmon.

**"Terriermon digivolve to… Gargomon!" **Gargomon jumped in front of Leopardmon and grabbed both maces with his fists. They slammed him into the ground so that a crater formed where he stood, but Gargomon fortunately held firm.

"Huh?" Vikemon winced in surprise.

"Leopardmon, get up!" Gargomon struggled to say while holding off Vikemon's maces. He knew that he wouldn't be able to hold off the mega for long, he could already feel his Gatling Guns beginning to fall apart from the pressure.

"Give it up weakling!" Vikemon roared as he applied even more pressure to Gargomon's arms.

"Leopardmon, he's about to destroy you, move!" Gargomon ordered his ally.

"Ugh… Gargomon?" Leopardmon looked up at the champion in a daze, too confused to realize what was happening.

"Leopardmon get out of there!" Izzy called to the ultimate mega in futility before finally running out into the battlefield and grabbing the leopard's shoulder in an attempt to pull him out of there. "Leopardmon let's move!"

"Izzy, get out of there now you're in too much danger!" Tai called to the genius.

"I can't- hold him off- for much longer." Gargomon grunted.

"Leopardmon, we have to move!" Izzy urged.

"Wha…?" Leopardmon started to focus. He analyzed what was happening and realized how close he, Gargomon, and Izzy were to destruction.

"I can't hold on anymore!" Gargomon cried and his arms gave in. He fell backwards and Vikemon's maces came crashing down on the three.

"Move!" Leopardmon snapped back into focus, grabbed Izzy and Gargomon, and threw them away from Vikemon just before he slammed his mace down on the ultimate mega feline.

"Leopardmon…!!!" A random voice cried out. Time seemed to slow as the broken form of Leopardmon could be seen bouncing into the air as Vikemon pulled his maces away to witness the results of his deed.

"Leopardmon… no…" Izzy and Gargomon mumbled. They locked eyes with Leopardmon. Pieces of armor were flying off of his body. His legs and waist were nonexistent; his torso and above was all that remained. His eyes held a knowing feeling of death. Leopardmon was not long for this world.

"Gargomon…" Leopardmon spoke quietly as time slowed to a halt.

"Leopardmon?" The bunny-dog's ears perked up.

"Gargomon, you need to know…" He hissed.

"I need to know what?"

"I never thanked you for what you did for me."

"What I did for you?"

"At first, I was angry that you would do something so reckless. I was angry at you for doing what you did, but as I look back on it, I know that what you did was best for the Royal Knights and the digital world."

"What?"

"Goodbye my friend, and thank you for giving me the chance to fix our mistakes."

"Leopardmon?" Gargomon's eye twitched as he tried to comprehend what was being said. Then time returned to normal, and Leopardmon's limp body flopped onto the ground, lifeless.

"Damn you!" Gargomon yelled, and then fired his Gatling guns at Vikemon. He let them rotate until the left one jammed and the right one ran out of ammo. The walrus was unaffected.

"No!!!" Gabumon cried in agony as his fellow Royal Knight breathed his last breath. "Leopardmon no!!!"

"He's gone," Tai gasped, "I can't believe he's just gone. How could Vikemon be so powerful?"

"And so ends the teutonic knight," Vikemon laughed as the last bit of Leopardmon's data faded away. "You see what happens when you underestimate us, the Dark Masters? Rosemon was full of humanity. Most of it was spite and hatred mind you but it was humanity still. The rest of us are not plagued by such human tainting. We cannot and will not be affected by you."

"Izzy, I know what to do." Gargomon spoke.

"You know how to defeat him?" Izzy inquired.

"I know how we can defeat him."

"Oh."

"So, who's next?" Vikemon asked triumphantly, then turning his eyes to Gargomon and Izzy. "And how about the two of you, are you ready to die?" He then swung his mallet towards the tamer and his partner digimon.

"Are you!?" Gargomon yelled back.

**R-O-Y-A-L D-I-G-I-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N**

**"Izzy!"**

**"Gargomon!"**

**"Royal Digivolve to… GoldenRapidmon!"**

When the two merged, the digidestined were met with a peculiar sight. Standing before them was not a new monster covered in a shining white light. It was Rapidmon, the ultimate form of Terriermon, his oval body armor, plating on his ears, black gun barrel on his back, circular gauntlets, and jester-like shoes, all familiar.

"Did something go wrong?" Tai inquired, but before he could ponder further he remembered that Vikemon's mallet was still racing towards Rapidmon.

"Too little too late child!" Vikemon boomed as his mallet swung down on the shining monster. Rapidmon acted as if the attack was nothing and raised his fist toward the mallet. When it struck, it slammed against his arm and wouldn't budge, and Rapidmon then pulled the mallet towards him and partially yanked it out of Vikemon's hand. Vikemon had to scramble to grab the connected mallet before both were lost to him. Rapidmon then, with one arm, slammed down on the chain connecting the two weapons and severed it, then grabbing the handle the size of his body with both arms and held it against his shoulder with ease.

"What in Yggdrasil's name!" Vikemon screamed in protest as he jumped backwards to take in the situation with his one weapon. As the light began to fade off of Rapidmon, everyone in the room (the digidestined in the hallway had slowly inched into the chamber) could tell that this Rapidmon was different than the ultimate they all knew. First, there was a band on each of the rabbit-man's legs, etched with some foreign or ancient language. A strange emblem resembling the infinity symbol was on Rapidmon's spherical pelvic piece. But the biggest change between this ultimate mega Rapidmon and the ultimate Rapidmon was that this one had replaced his green armor with golden armor. Hence, GoldenRapidmon.

"So, this is MegaGargomon's ultimate mega form. I'm sorry that Leopardmon won't be here to see this." Vikemon scoffed.

"You are wrong Vikemon." GoldenRapidmon said in a dual voice.

"Oh, am I now?" Vikemon mocked offense.

"Not about Leopardmon: what you did to him was cruel and I will make you pay for it. No, you were wrong about what you said earlier, about you not having any humanity. You have plenty of it."

"What humanity?" Vikemon raised his shoulders inquisitively. "I have no anger, no happiness, no jealousy-!"

"You have pride." He said simply. "And pride will be your downfall."

"I think you're sorely mistaken." Vikemon growled.

"We shall see." GoldenRapidmon narrowed his eyes, then gripped the mallet tighter and swung hard at Vikemon. Vikemon jumped back to dodge and then swung his own mace at Rapidmon, who used his mace to block Vikemon's. The two found themselves in a mallet duel, each swinging and blocking with their massive weapons.

"How do you expect to defeat me when I so easily destroyed Leopardmon?" Vikemon scoffed.

"Leopardmon was still recovering his full strength; he wasn't truly at the ultimate mega level!" Izzy/Terriermon barked. "I on the other hand am at the ultimate mega level, and not only do I have an evolution boost but I have my partner inside me, and he gives me more energy than you could ever dream of!"

"Still, it took both Leopardmon and KabukiSakuyamon to defeat Rosemon, and I am stronger than her. What hope do you have?"

"I told you: you are prideful, you are narcissistic. You are blind to your own short comings, and I will use that blindness to gain the advantage over you. Rosemon knew her limits. You do not."

"I know exactly what I can and cannot do, and defeating you is clearly within my line of sight!" Vikemon yelled as he swung his mallet down in a sweeping motion. Rapidmon rolled to the side, dropped his mallet so he would be faster, and raised his gauntlet covered arm.

"Rapid Fire!" Rapidmon fired a missile at near point blank range, which exploded into Vikemon's forehead and knocked him backwards.

"Agh!!!" Vikemon squealed.

"If I'm so clearly in your line of sight," GoldenRapidmon hissed, "Then how come you didn't see that coming?"

"You cheated." Vikemon growled.

"You know what they say, when in Rome," Rapidmon shrugged.

"Do as the Romans do…" Vikemon grumbled.

"No, do as the Tyrants do: Tri-Beam!" GoldenRapidmon formed himself into a triangle and fired a three angled beam at Vikemon, who had to leap with all of his might in order to dodge the devastating attack. As he dodge rolled away he tried to grab his mallet, but Rapidmon would not have that.

"Rapid Fire!" He aimed at the mallet's handle and obliterated it with his missile, denying Vikemon of half of his arsenal.

"RAW!!!" Vikemon roared in protest as he hopped behind Rapidmon, who quickly spun around to face him. Vikemon then lunged for the left, prompting Rapidmon to aim that way, and then quickly jumped towards Rapidmon, surprising him. GoldenRapidmon hovered away so that Vikemon would not charge him, but soon realized that this was not the walrus' primary goal. For earlier in the battle Rapidmon had dropped the mace he had stolen from Vikemon onto the ground under him, and Vikemon needed the weapon to do any serious damage to the super fast rabbit.

"Rapid Fire!" Rapidmon blasted at the mallet's handle, but Vikemon was too close and grabbed the weapon and pulled it way before the missile connected, so all that it did was create a harmless crater in the ice.

"Vulcan's Hammer!" Vikemon slammed his hammer into the frost quickly, snapping that particular part of the floor in two and creating a shockwave that sped right for Rapidmon, who had no time to dodge as the electricity slammed into his gut and knocked him into the far wall, where he landed with a thud on the dark red mark that Vikemon's goblet spill had made. Upon his landing, the thinner layer of ice cracked, and Rapidmon was forced to leap away as fast as possible before it shattered into some room below Vikemon's main chamber.

"Be careful Scout!" Gabumon called to his fellow knight in worry.

"I ask you again Rapidmon, what shortcomings do you foresee in me?" Vikemon lifted his arms in mock confusion.

"For one thing, you left yourself wide open to an attack: Rapid Fire!" Before Vikemon could stretch his arms back down, GoldenRapidmon lifted both of his gauntlet covered arms and fired two missiles at Vikemon's chest. He snapped his arms shut but not before they blasted into his stomach and threw the monster off of his feet so that he rose into the air and crashed back down onto the frozen floor, which cracked under his weight. "You have horrible recovery time: Tri-Beam!" The rabbit-man formed a triangle with his body and fired a triangular energy blast at Vikemon, who couldn't stand up in time to defend. Vikemon was thrown across the slippery floor and crashed into the wall, which cracked in half upon his collision. Rapidmon then dashed up to the monster's face and pulled his fist back. "And you're ugly. Bunny Pummel!" Rapidmon slammed his fist into Vikemon's face and his head smashed a deep crater into the ice wall, sealing both their fates.

"Egh-! Egh-! Egh-!" Vikemon began to cough uncontrollably as his throat filled with blood.

"Have you had enough?" Rapidmon glared at the Viking. Vikemon barely nodded, his head was throbbing too much. "Good" He backed away and raised his arm. Rapid Fi-!" Before he could finish his attack a sheet of ice from the ceiling dropped down above him and he had to sprint to get away from the projectile. "Agh!"

"What's going on?" Tai asked in a panic as his group had to run out into the hall to avoid the wooden doors of the chamber as they broke out of their hinges and crashed onto the ground in a pile of rubble that blocked the entrance.

"GoldenRapidmon and Vikemon's battle must have destroyed the foundations of the chamber!" Matt gasped. "It's collapsing; he has to get out of there!"

"Scout, you have to leave the chamber now!" Gabumon called to his ally.

"I'm working on it!" GoldenRapidmon called back as he weaved through a field of shattered ice that was falling from the ceiling. "There aren't many avenues out of here- Wah!" He slowed to a halt just before a massive stalactite broke off of the ceiling and sliced through the air right in front of him.

"Hurry!" Kari urged.

"RAW!!!" unexpectedly Vikemon pounced out of his would-be grave and swung his mallet at GoldenRapidmon, who swerved to avoid the surprisingly energized digimon only to find himself under another piece of ceiling that was falling towards him.

"Rapid Fire!" Rapidmon destroyed the slab just before it hit him, but he wasn't paying attention to Vikemon, who had gripped the rest of the chain attached to his mallet and was spinning the weapon violently.

"GoldenRapidmon, look out!" Salamon yelled to the digimon. GoldenRapidmon snapped his head in the direction of the whooshing noise that he had detected to see Vikemon twirling his mallet. "Not gonna happen!" Rapidmon clapped his arms together and "Rapid Fire!"d at Vikemon, expecting the monster to dodge. But Vikemon did nothing of the sort. Instead he swung his mallet down as hard as possible and drove it into the ice, creating a shockwave that decimated the floor and cracked the entire hallway as far as the tamers could see. Then the missiles hit him and Vikemon lost his right arm and lung. Vikemon then dragged his mallet out of the ground and began spinning it again.

"What are you doing?" Rapidmon cried as he swerved away from raining ice.

"I may die…" Vikemon wheezed, "But I'm taking all of you with me." He slammed the mallet down again and this time the floor caved in, barely catching itself before Vikemon fell into oblivion. This time, the hallway shattered and the destined had to huddle together to avoid destruction.

"He's trying to bring the fortress down…" Rapidmon came to the realization. "You guys need to get out of here!" He ordered the digidestined as he swerved away from more falling ice.

"Then hurry up and get over here!" Eric ordered back.

"There's not enough time! Veemon, catch!" He formed an energy ball in his palm and tossed it through the air where it crashed into Veemon's body and re-energized him. "Go now!"

"Not without you!" Tai yelled.

"I'll be fine! Now, go!" He punched a wall of ice out of his way while rushing for the exit, as Vikemon slammed his mallet into the floor one more time and it caved in, sending him spiraling into oblivion. They could hear his pained scream as he collapsed onto the floor below amidst a sea of broken ice shards under and above him.

"He's right, we've gotta move." The lisped digimon ordered. **"Veemon, warp digivolve to… Imperialdramon Dragon Mode!" **The digidestined rushed to gather on Imperialdramon's back, and then the dragon blasted out of the hallway towards the exit to the fortress.

"Damn…" Rapidmon tossed his head around trying to spot a way out of the room, but he was in the middle of the chamber and couldn't find any way to get to the exit safely. He scanned the floor, which had collapsed onto the lower level, where red tainted ice caught his interest. He realized that it was Vikemon's drink and passed by it, until realizing that the red ice was on top of something. He spotted a dark spot under the ice and rushed towards it just as the bulk of the roof broke off and fell down into the chambers.

***

"Izzy!"

"Terriermon!"

The digidestined were desperately rifling through the ice, trying to find any sign of their friends who had vanished under the fortress when it finally collapsed. They had spotted where Vikemon's chamber was from above and had been digging in the spot for an hour, to no avail. When they had first started, they had seen a large bulk of data and a digi-core fly out of the rubble and spiral into the air, so they knew that Vikemon was no more. A second digi-core had never come, so they knew Terriermon and Izzy were alive. They just had to find them.

"Agh!" Ken pulled his hand out of the ice quickly and pulled it to his torso.

"You okay Ken?" Tai inquired while brushing some melting ice off of him.

"Yeah, I just cut myself. I added some color to this place though." He indicated to the drips of blood that had splattered on the ice near him.

"Hey guys!" Eric waved from the far side of the crumbled chamber. "I found something!" The scattered group ended their searching and congregated around Eric and Tentomon, who were pulling up a rather large slab of ice. "Right here." He rested the slab against another ice boulder so that the group could see what he had found. Everyone rested their eyes on a shattered pile of deep red frost.

"That isn't… blood, is it?" Tai asked nervously.

"Nope," Eric smiled. He then wiped his finger against the lightly melting ice and tasted it with his finger. "Wine. From Vikemon's goblet."

"So it's a wine spill, how does that help us?"

"Because of what's under it!" Tentomon cheered and began scraping away at the ice. Only Eric and Tentomon had realized it at the time, but the ice was a shade of red too deep for the circumstances. That was because the ice was laying on top of a large black port hole that led into the ground. Once they realized what they were looking at, the rest of the digimon helped Tentomon uncover the structure and soon they had found a door into the underground of Drive.

"How much you want to bet Izzy dived down there?" Eric gleamed.

"Do you think he would have been able to find it in time?" Kari questioned nervously. "This was under the chamber the digimon were fighting in."

"The floor collapsed the last time Vikemon smashed with his hammer," Said Gabumon, "It's likely Scout and Izzy found this hole and jumped in."

"Where do you think it leads?" Koichi inquired.

"To Izzy." Tai said determinedly. "And Terriermon. Can we open this?"

"Yeah." Tentomon groaned as he wrapped his arms around the handle and yanked the door open. They were now looking down at a pitch black hole into the heart of Drive.

"T.K., flashlight." Tai held out his hand and a moment later Takeru had placed a mid-sized flashlight in his palm. Tai clicked it on and aimed the light down the hole. He scanned it across the opening so the group could see a wide circular pit reaching down farther than the flashlight could reach. A ladder was built into the side of the pit where the port hole opened.

"We'll go first," Said Eric, "Tentomon and I can handle a direct challenge on that ladder better than you guys can."

"Then here we go." Tai handed Eric the flashlight, and the boy tied it to his belt so that he wouldn't have to manage the flashlight and the ladder. Eric then dropped his legs down into the pit and stepped onto the ladder, where he began to descent with Tentomon hovering beside him.

"What if Izzy's not down there, and he's actually still somewhere under all of this ice?" Kari asked worriedly.

"If he is, then we're screwed." Tai sighed. "But It's Terriermon and Izzy combined. Izzy's a genius and Terriermon has the imagination of a manga writer. If Eric could find this hole, than they definitely did."

"Stop criticizing me and get down here!" Eric snapped from below. At that, the destined and their partners dropped into the hole and began descending into the underground of Drive.


	61. When the Sht Hits the Fan

**Chapter Sixty One: When the Sh*t Hits the Fan**

Nobody talked. Nobody felt like talking. Too much had happened in the last two hours. They had separated from half of their group. Leopardmon was murdered. Terriermon found out he was a Royal Knight, had digivolved and defeated Vikemon, and now he and Izzy were missing. As upsetting as all of those facts were however, Leopardmon's death had hit them the hardest. Rika and the others would be fine. Terriermon and Izzy would be fine, hopefully. Leopardmon would not. Vikemon had killed him. He had mutilated their friend's body with a pair of blunt objects. Thankfully Leopardmon had just enough energy left in him to encourage Terriermon to warp digivolve to GoldenRapidmon, or all would have been lost.

Now only a lot had been lost. Leopardmon had been guiding the digidestined's every movement from the moment they had arrived in the digital world. He had defended them from the evil digidestined on their first day. He had led the group into battle with Devimon's slaves as Leomon, setting them up to defeat the demon. He had sworn to their innocence when Nanimon blamed them for treachery. He brought Koromon's digi-egg back to Tai after Angewomon was forced to destroy him as SkullGreymon. He had saved them from VenomMyotismon. He had encouraged both Tai and Renamon to realize their destinies as Royal Knights.

And now he was gone.

Leomon's influence had in some way or another guided them to where they needed to be. Now, they didn't have that guidance. They knew they had to defeat the Dark Masters, but that was it. Yeah, they had Gabumon with them, and he was a Royal Knight with all of his memories, but it just wasn't the same. Gabumon was their close friend. Leopardmon was more. He was their leader; their true leader.

Now all that was guiding them was the fact that they knew they had to find Izzy and Terriermon. Eric led the way, with Tentomon hovering beside him. They were climbing down a ladder in a pitch black hole, illuminated only by the flashlight that T.K. had given him. Above him were, in order, Tai, Matt, T.K., Kari, Koichi, Ken, and their partners. They had been climbing down for a half hour: the pit was deep.

"I see floor." Eric finally announced. The team peered down to see that the light from T.K.'s flashlight, which was tied to Eric's belt, had barely illuminated a concrete floor. Some pieces of random debris, probably ice and wood, could be seen in the shadows.

"We should move faster, we're almost there." Tai ordered.

"That might not be such a good idea Tai," Said Ken from the top of the line, "It's very moist down here. If we go any faster, we might get clumsy and slip." He brushed his hand against the wall, signifying how smooth it was.

"I can hear some water dripping down at the bottom too," Said Eric, "It looks like the ice up top is starting to melt."

"If you can hear noise down there," Tai began, "Then shouldn't someone down there be able to here you?"

"It's worth a shot." Eric agreed, predicting what Tai was thinking of. He faced downward, cupped a hand around his mouth, and called out. "Izzy, are you down there!?" The team stood silent for a few seconds, waiting for a response. It never came. "Damn."

"Let's keep moving." Tai ordered, and Eric proceeded with climbing down the continuously dampening ladder. The final descent was quiet and uneventful. That is, until halfway down Eric slipped off of one of the bars.

"Agh!" As Eric spiraled through the air Tentomon tried to latch onto his partner's leg, but his talons had little hold and Eric's leg slipped out of his grip.

"No! Eric!" Tentomon scrambled to grab at his partner, but his efforts were futile.

"AAAGGGHHH!!!" Eric positioned himself straight up and rolled upon impact with the ground, but it only did so much. The pressure from the fall and the hard concrete floor cracked his left tibia.

"Eric!" Tentomon dropped to the ground and tended to his wounded partner.

"Gddmmt…" Eric grumbled while squeezing the base of the ladder intensely to try and pass some of the pain off (albeit on an inanimate object).

"Eric, are you alright?" Tai called worriedly as he finally arrived at the base of the ladder and shoved off, with Matt right behind him.

"No…" He replied through his teeth, "I think I broke my leg."

"Let me see." He ordered while moving in closer to examine Eric's wounded appendage.

"Wait, don't touch it!" Ken called from above as he moved closer to the bottom. "Joe showed me a few medical techniques. Let me take a look at it."

"Right." Tai nodded and backed away. Everyone else on the ladder hurried to part from it so that Ken could examine the limb, and soon he had rolled up the boy's jean leg and was examining the wound.

"It's definitely broken," Ken said regrettably, "Closed, doesn't feel like a compound fracture, hopefully it just cracked. I think Joe called it a Greenstick fracture."

"My extensive medical training from watching _E.R._ doesn't cover this. Is that a good thing?" Eric laughed painfully.

"I think it means you don't need a full cast, maybe just a splint; for now at least. We need to make sure the crack doesn't cut at any blood vessels or tissue."

"Do you have the material?" Eric asked doubtedly.

"Koichi, go check that wood. See if it's wet or not." Ken directed his fellow tamer to the pile of debris that had most likely accumulated from Vikemon's door. Koichi ran over to the wood and checked its moisture level.

"It's dry." Koichi nodded.

"Good, Gabumon: can you cut up the wood so that there are two pieces the exact same length as the length of Eric's knee to his ankle?"

"No problem." Gabumon ran over to the pile and set to work.

"Wormmon, after he's done start wrapping up the wood with your silk, as padding." He directed his partner, who had degenerated correctly after his last evolution.

"Right." Wormmon joined Gabumon in their work. Fortunately it didn't take long for the two digimon to create two wooden shafts covered in silk padding, which Ken placed on both sides of Eric's broken leg and instructed Wormmon to tie four knots around the wood and leg at his knee, ankle, and above and below the place of the broken bone.

"We're going to have to have someone stay here with Eric while we go look for Izzy." Tai determined.

"To hell with that," Eric glared, "You're not leaving me in this pit. Make me some crutches, I'm going with you."

"You're in no condition to go with us Eric, it's too dangerous." Tai argued. "Just stay here with someone and we'll come get you when we find Izzy."

"Forget it Tai. If you leave me and someone else here then you're down at least one Royal Knight, and we can't let that happen." Eric reasoned as he used the ladder next to him to pull himself to his feet, putting all of his weight on the vertical stairway and his right leg.

"He's got a point," Said Keramon, "With two of us gone, we'll be less likely to digivolve to ultimate mega, defeat the next Dark Master, and save Izzy and Terriermon."

"I've got an idea." Gabumon spoke. **"Gabumon digivolve to… Garurumon!"** The ice wolf galloped in front of Eric and bent down. "He can catch a ride."

After arguing with Eric for a little bit longer, Tai finally conceded and agreed for Eric to continue along with them. After Wormmon made him some crutches for later use, Eric carefully pulled himself onto Garurumon's back and the group set off in a new direction. They had discovered that the deep hole led to a pitch black path, which they had to illuminate with some of the spare wood from Vikemon's door and a set of matches in T.K.'s backpack (his flashlight would only last for so long). Tai, Matt, and Ken wielded the newly made torches as they set off down the black path where they were sure that Izzy had gone. The uneventful trip continued, until an hour later their torches illuminated a brown satchel with a yellow piece of plastic and metal sticking out of it.

"It's Izzy's laptop!" Kari cried as she ran up to the device and clutched it as if it were Izzy himself.

"Why would he just leave it here?" T.K. asked concerned.

"He wouldn't," Garurumon sighed, "There's been a struggle here." He sniffed the dirt near his feet, where shuffle marks and footprints could be seen. "Izzy was taken against his will once he got to this point. But what's most odd is that I can find no signs of Terriermon. I know he usually rests on Koushiro's shoulder, but there aren't any attacks marks or anything. It's like they didn't even try to fight back."

"Maybe they didn't have the energy to." Eric said regrettably. "They just battled Vikemon and ran away from a collapsing ice cathedral. If they didn't have the energy to fight, then they would have been easily taken by some of the Dark Master's minions."

"Let's hope they were just taken and not… you know." Keramon said the thought that was on everybody's minds.

"We need to move faster," Tai ordered, "Every second we wait is another second that something bad could happen to Izzy and Terriermon."

"Right." Everyone agreed. Afterwards, Keramon warp digivolved to Infermon, Patamon digivolved to Angemon, Salamon warp digivolved to Angewomon, and Wormmon digivolved to Stingmon , and then Garurumon and Infermon gathered a total of four passengers each, and they set down the wide hallway as fast as possible to find their missing friends.

***

Once again, things were uneventful. The five digimon and their passengers raced down the straight, unchanging hallway, illuminated by Tai, Ken, and Matt's torches flickering in the air. There was only one problem: they weren't making any progress. They still had their food and water that the Flymon had given them, so they were secure for the two days that they had raced down that hallway (and the wooden containers had provided them with more torches as well), but they still had not arrived anywhere substantial. That is, until the night of the second day.

"You smell that?" Garurumon asked the team in general, slowing down to a stop to discuss the issue with his allies.

"I don't smell anything." Matt shrugged.

"No, he's right." Said Infermon. "It smells like fresh air: or at least, fresher air."

"There's a bend up ahead," Garurumon nodded, "The source of the fresh air must be up there somewhere."

"If the air is fresh then that means somebody might be stationed up there and needs a ventilation shaft." Stingmon proposed.

"Then let's not waste any time, we need to move now." Tai urged.

"Wait a minute Tai; they could be heavily fortified down there. We need to tread cautiously." Garurumon warned.

"Right, sorry."

"I'll go scout ahead." Angemon proposed.

"Be careful." Said Garurumon. Angemon nodded and started cautiously down the hallway. Soon he vanished around the turn in the hall's path, and his friends stood anxiously awaiting the monster's reaction. They stood for half a minute before Angemon popped his head back and said:

"You guys need to come see this."

"Is it safe?" Angewomon asked.

"Well it isn't dangerous." Angemon replied. The 12 then walked slowly towards Angemon and around the bend, where they were immediately met with an incredible site.

"W-what is it?" T.K. asked in disbelief. "I mean, I know what it is, but- what is it?"

"It's a city T.K.," Matt responded in the same light headed voice, "An ancient, underground city." Laid out before them was a grand stone staircase that stretched down from the cavern they had been in for the past two days to the base of a massive chamber underground, miles and miles long. In this chamber was a sprawling city covered with ancient buildings, mostly houses, but a few scattered Latin and South American temple imitates as well. In the middle of the huge city was a massive golden Egyptian Pyramid which rose almost to the top of the chamber and took up almost half of the space within it.

"I believe we have found our next Dark Master." Garurumon growled.

"How do you know?" Tai inquired.

"The pyramid," He answered, "It's a dead giveaway for Pharaohmon."

"He's probably the one who took Izzy and Terriermon." Eric determined.

"Then we should go in there and find them." Koichi said purposefully.

"Wait; remember the last time we rushed into battle and what happened." Garurumon warned.

"Regardless, chances are that Izzy and Terriermon are in there." Said Tai. "We need to find them as soon as possible."

"How do you expect to get in?" Asked Garurumon.

"We could fake our way in," Ken suggested, "Pretend to be your prisoners and have you walk right in unopposed."

"I don't think we're going to need to do any of that." Angewomon stated.

"Why not?" Kari inquired.

"Because there's nothing moving down there; there's nothing alive." Her statement stunned the rest of the group. They all looked down at the city and realized the same thing: there was no movement whatsoever. It was literally an ancient city they were gazing over: one that had been abandoned long ago, more of an archaeological site than a metropolis.

***

The 13 had moved into the city swiftly and silently, moving carefully as to not alert some unexpected presence that they had arrived. For the most part they were clear. They had moved about 100 yards into the desolate city with no problem, following the road that entered towards the center of the ghost metropolis from the grand staircase they had descended from earlier. However, it was at this point that they realized the high concentration of houses around them that would be perfect hiding places for some servant of Pharaohmon to come and attack them out of the blue, so they decided to investigate one of the simple rooms.

"Yah!" Tai and Matt kicked in the wooden door (as it was locked) to one of the one floor, one room, stone huts and led the way inside. Eric got onto his crutches and off of Garurumon's back to follow while most of the digimon (excluding Angewomon, who had degenerated to Gatomon) stayed behind to guard the small house. Koichi stayed outside as well to keep onto two of the torches, which were the only things illuminating the grand chamber besides the reflective panels of metal wall that some of the cavern and many of the stone huts were outfitted with.

"It doesn't look very conspicuous." Tai observed. They entered the square room to find that it was a dark, windowless structure (they didn't think about that problem while they were outside the hut) filled with nothing more than a wooden table, a wooden chair, and a cot on the floor that had no blankets. The room was covered in dust and looked like it hadn't been used in ages. The only abnormality in the building was two wooden panels built into the wall of the back of the stone house, one over the other, about the length of a humanoid digimon.

"Except for those," Eric nodded to the two panels as he limped his way over to the oddity.

"What do you think they are?" Kari inquired.

"They have handles," Said Eric observantly, "Maybe it's a digi-pantry."

"There's only one way to find out." Matt said as he walked over to the wooden doors as well. Tai and the others followed and all gathered around the doors to attempt to open the bottom one, which was only half a foot or so off of the floor. He and Tai then gripped the handles tightly and yanked the door open. A blast of old air greeted them and they had to hold their breaths to suffer through the dank smell. It took only a few seconds for the disturbance to dissipate through the rest of the cave-stale air and clear the digidestined's vision to see what was in the wall: a grave.

"Oh Yggdrasil," Gatomon gasped.

"It's a… human body." Ken groaned with disgust. The group was peering at a human skeleton, almost all but bone taken by the sands of time, shoved in what they realized was an above ground tomb.

"Why would there be a grave in someone's living room?" Matt questioned.

"Some ancient cultures would keep their relatives buried in a special pit in their houses," Ken explained, "But nothing like this."

"Yeah, this is more like Christian European catacombs. But in somebody's house?" Eric added.

"I've got a better question," Said Tai, "What is a human body doing in the digital world in the first place? Am I wrong or isn't this place supposed to be the _digital world_?"

"Tai's right." Said Gatomon. "There aren't supposed to be any remains here, much less human ones."

"So why would there be?" Eric murmured to himself. He then bent down to his remaining good knee and reached into the grave.

"What are you doing?" T.K. asked. Eric didn't answer. He kept reaching into the hole and grabbed one of the leg bones on a hunch. The entire leg immediately disintegrated upon contact and then the rest of the body fell into a heap of data as well.

"They're not real bones." T.K. said in epiphany.

"They're not real human bones anyway," Matt agreed, "Where did they come from then I wonder."

"Maybe they're like shadows of our world." Ken speculated with no explanation or expression that indicated he might give one.

"Say what?" Tai finally asked.

"Well, you know how we were brought here by the data streams, and those data streams are connected to the communication networks on Earth,"

"How do you figure that?"

"Devimon told us." Ken answered.

"Oh."

"Anyway, since those networks carry information about humans, it's plausible that they could have found some archaeologist's report and downloaded it into the digital world: hence the fake dead bodies."

"But why? For what purpose are there fake human remains in an underground city?" Matt inquired.

"I don't know, I'm not a genius. Well, I am, but I don't know."

"So I guess we were wrong," Said Eric. "This isn't some ancient metropolis that used to be filled with digimon."

"Then what is it?" Kari questioned.

"A necropolis: a city of the dead."

"Wonderful."

"Actually it is," Said Gatomon, "If all of the inhabitants of this city are dead, or rather never alive to begin with, then we're pretty safe here."

"Except for Pharaohmon." Garurumon spoke from outside the house.

"Right, except for Pharaohmon."

"What would Pharaohmon be doing here anyway?" T.K. inquired. "There's nothing of value here: nothing to conquer."

"Well, this is the city of the dead," Matt made a gesture towards the remaining coffin and grabbed it's handles, "And Pharaohmon is a mummy." He pulled the weak wooden door off of its hinges. "Maybe he gets lonely."

"Gah!" A bandaged corpse laced with belts and grasping a large rifle sprang out of the grave and lunged at Matt.

"Lightning Paw!" Gatomon jumped forward and punched the living dead creature with a fast jab, slamming him into the wall and almost smashing through it.

"What's that!?" Matt gasped.

"A Mummymon!" Gatomon spoke quickly before the said Mummymon blasted out of the wall and slashed his rifle at Gatomon like a club. The six tamers jumped away to opposite sides of the room as Gatomon flipped out of the doorway so that Mummymon chased him out into the open.

"Necrophobia!" Mummymon raised his rifle and opened fire at Gatomon, thinking that she was the only digimon in the vicinity. That's why he was stunned to see another five digimon out there waiting for him.

**"Stingmon digivolve to… Paildramon!"** Paildramon emerged and threw a punch at the ultimate, as he and Infermon were the only ones qualified to deal with the monster at the current moment. "Desperado Blaster!" Bullets piled into Mummymon's gut and the creature was thrown into the middle of the street.

"Spider Shooter!" Infermon fired a cannon blast at Mummymon and the creature disintegrated.

"What the hell was that all about?" The voices of Stingmon and Ex-Veemon asked.

"We found some crypts in the building!" Ken gasped as the rest of the group piled out of the house to the safety of their digimon partners. "That Mummymon was hiding in one of them, waiting to attack us!"

"You sure it was only one?"

"There were only two graves inside and we checked both of them," Eric breathed. Before he could continue, however, one of the doors a few dozen yards down exploded and a Mummymon jumped out, "In the one building."

"It _was_ a trap!" Angemon exclaimed. "We couldn't detect any life here because the inhabitants were already dead! They hid in the crypts and waited for us to come to them!" As he said this, three more doors were heard exploding open, and they could tell more Mummymon were emerging around the city as a chorus of small explosions occurred.

"We've got to get out of here!" Garurumon yelled. "We're going to be outnumbered soon and there's not enough room for half of us to digivolve to Mega!"

"Necrophobia!"

"Necrophobia!"

"Necrophobia!" The group was quickly swarmed with large numbers of the undead digimon and they had to quickly defend.

**"Gatomon digivolve to… Angewomon!" **

"Spider Shooter!"

"Desperado Blaster!"

"Celestial Arrow!" Infermon, Paildramon, and Angewomon rebelled against the attacks, but they soon found that it was futile.

"Necrophobia!" Came a chorus of monsters attacking.

"Agh!" The Mummymon ceased with firing at them and began to swarm them physically. "There's too many of them! There must be hundreds!" The destined were too overwhelmed. The Mummymon came in the hundreds. First a team of Mummymon took over Angewomon and dragged her away. Then Tai was snatched and pulled into the crowd as well. One by one, the digidestined and their partners began to disappear.

"Angemon!" T.K. cried as his partner was abducted by the attackers. As he reached out for his partner's hand, his crest began to glow.

**"Angemon digivolve to… MagnaAngemon!"** The Mummymon were stunned by the explosion and thrown backwards as MagnaAngemon had time to escape. Unfortunately, the swarm had taken all of the tamers and their partners except for T.K. and MagnaAngemon by the time the latter evolved.

"Matt! Kari!" Takeru cried.

"T.K., we have to get out of here!" MagnaAngemon grabbed his partner by the boy's waste and flew into the air, barely escaping the multitude of physical and energy attacks from the many Mummymon.

"But what about the others!?'

"There's nothing we can do right now, we have to regroup!" MagnaAngemon made up his mind. He picked up speed and flew over a series of buildings, cutting off the many Mummymon who had been trying to overtake them. MagnaAngemon continued sailing as the light of the cavern began to fade. The crowd of Mummymon had been blocking the reflective system that was shining thanks to the torches that Koichi had dropped. As the light almost disappeared, the Mummymon had a harder time finding MagnaAngemon's location, and the digimon was able to escape more easily. He found his way to one of the twelve temples that surrounded the main pyramid and concealed himself and T.K. within the fortunately empty dwelling.

"They're all gone." T.K. gasped in disbelief.

"We'll get them back T.K., but first we have to recover from the attack and find out where our friends have been taken." MagnaAngemon answered. He then peered out the temple. In the distance, he could see a parade of Mummymon walking up the central pyramid's steps. "Although locating them may be easier than it looks."


	62. Conversations with Dead People

Sorry for such a long wait (a month is not too long right?), but I felt I wasn't getting what I wanted done in the last six chapters, so I wanted to take a break so my writing won't suffer anymore than it already has, hopefully. Also, as you've probably noticed I haven't given a lot of attention to most of the newly heroic digidestined (i.e. Yolei, Zoe, etc…). Well I have a reason for this. I am planning on using virtually almost every character from all five original series (excluding most international digidestined and about half of the characters from Data Squad), as well as the five new characters that I have planned to add (excluding Eric). I have too many characters to give a lot of focus to every single one of them, especially in Piedmon's Absolution where I only have 5 chapters plus an epilogue left, so I have to give some characters a lot more attention than others. As a result, I only have enough room left in TDOPA to give attention to Koichi and/or Ken. I will however be providing a lot more attention to some of the other formerly evil digidestined in later books however (one of them has an even greater role than Ken). And finally, I haven't forgotten about Henry, nor have I tried to faze him out of my story. There is a reason for his absence and I promise, it will be explained. Just not now.

**Chapter Sixty Two: Conversations with Dead People**

"Well this is a fun experience." Ken grumbled.

"You get used to it after two or three times." Eric retorted as he limped up the stairs with his crutches. The group had been dragged back together (except without their digivices) and was now being marched up the grand pyramid staircase towards an illuminated arched opening halfway up.

"Keep moving," Mummymon growled whilst poking Eric in the back with his weapon, "Our master doesn't have time for your foolishness."

"I'm going as fast as I can: in case you haven't noticed my leg is broken." Eric stressed each syllable. Mummymon groaned in opposition but didn't act any further. Obviously Pharaohmon wanted them alive.

They continued the march, ascending the stairs as fast as they could thanks to Eric's injury. Still, it only took around ten minutes for the imprisoned team and the caravan of Mummymon to make it to the opening and into a grand chamber, filled with only columns covered in middle-eastern and Mesoamerican hieroglyphs. Near the back of the room was a large throne (unsurprisingly) with a similar gold plate covering and the same markings. The only odd thing about Pharaohmon's throne room (besides the fact that he had one despite being in charge for only a week) was a huge gold sarcophagus resting horizontally in the middle of the chamber.

"Welcome, I'm so excited you could join us." Pharaohmon glided out from behind one of the pillars and settled in between the throne and sarcophagus. He was an intimidating creature: a humanoid, a mummy to be exact, except his bandages were perfectly straight; and gold. He also wore a white shouldered cape, and had on a red tone belt with a long and wide white cloth hanging down. Two huge purple and gold bands were strapped to his ankles and wrists. He also wore an Egyptian headpiece; although that might have been his actual head.

"As if we had a choice?" Tai griped.

"You did not have to come down here," Pharaohmon replied from behind his mask, "Once you started climbing down that ladder, you practically accepted an invitation. Now I trust you all arrived here safely?" He questioned, then spotted Eric's broken leg. "Now lieutenant, why did that happen?" He cocked his head at the Mummymon pressing his rifle into Eric's back.

"We found him like this sir." Mummymon gulped.

"Is that true, Eric?" Pharaohmon addressed the tamer of wisdom, who was only momentarily surprised see that Pharaohmon knew his name.

"Depends," Eric decided to say, "Are you going to let us go if I say it isn't?"

"Ah, you must be the funny one." Pharaohmon noted to himself. His eyes then crossed over his partner's form. "And Tentomon is your partner, what a surprise."

"Would you cut the crap already?" Tai grumbled, interrupting Pharaohmon's odd dialogue. "Just do whatever ridiculous execution attempt you're going to try and do already."

"Touchy…" Pharaohmon said after a few seconds, taken aback, "I thought the rude one was supposed to be a girl."

"You might as well just let us go Pharaohmon," Kari griped, "We're going to find a way out of this; we always do."

"Oh, but that is where you are wrong destined, "You see, I have learned from the mistakes of my predecessors, and believe me there is a lot to learn, and I have found the perfect way to destroy you while at the same time staying rather amused." Pharaohmon snapped his fingers, and then two random Mummymon ran up to him and started pushing against his sarcophagus. "Bring up the one in the suit!" He commanded the Mummymon behind Ken, who jabbed his rifle in said child's back and began pushing him towards the congregation.

"Ken!" Wormmon tried to struggle out of his captor's (a Mummymon) grasp, but the ultimate would not let go.

"Don't worry Ken, you'll be fine!" Tai called to the boy as he was shoved ever closer to Pharaohmon.

"We'll get you out of this!" Matt called as well.

"I hope you're as smart as they say you are boy," Ken finally arrived at Pharaohmon and the mummy then grabbed Ken by his neck, and then whispered something else into his ear. Ken's hopeless expression didn't change, but rather worsened, and then Pharaohmon snapped the fingers of his free hand again to urge the Mummymon pushing his sarcophagus out of its place to hurry. The two ultimates increased their effort and finally moved the grave over enough to reveal a trap door in the middle of the room. The Mummymon yanked the door open to reveal a dark pit that the observers could not tell where it lead. "Goodbye, Ken Ichijoji." Pharaohmon then dragged the struggling tamer over to the pit and dropped him.

"No!" Cried Kari.

"Agh!" The Mummymon who was imprisoning Wormmon suddenly moaned in anguish and Wormmon leapt out of his arms and slid across the smooth golden floor and dove into the hole just before the Mummymon holding it open could react and slam it shut.

"Damn!" Pharaohmon swore as the Mummymon who had released Wormmon scrambled to his feet after dropping to his knees. "Why did you let him go!?"

"He bit off my finger…" The undead digimon rose his left arm to reveal only four appendages.

"Is that supposed to matter to me?" Pharaohmon stomped over to his coffin and planted a fist into the center in anger. "Did he get their digivice and crest?"

"No sir," The wounded monster breathed, "My partner still has those." He nodded to the Mummymon behind him, who lifted his hands to reveal the two devices still within his grasp.

"That very well may have just spared both of your lives. Get out of here, and place those in storage. I'll deal with you two later." Pharaohmon ordered, and the two Mummymon scampered down the steps.

***

"AGHHH!!!" Ken lashed out violently, trying desperately to grab onto something that would stop his increasing descent.

"Don't worry Ken, I'm coming!" Wormmon called from a few dozen feet above him. He then fired a thread out of his abdomen, waiting to hear it connect with the wooden door that had slammed shut behind him. He heard a light thwacking sound, and then pulled his legs to his body and tucked his head in, increasing his speed. This quickened him enough to fly past Ken. "Grab on!" He ordered, and Ken complied, latching onto the thread with his arms and legs to get a tight enough grasp. Once he was on, Wormmon slowed his descent and gradually stopped spinning silk, slow enough so that the two came to a relatively comfortable stop.

"Thanks Wormmon." Ken breathed as he tried to catch his breath from the terrifying fall that had almost ended in his probable death.

"No problem, now let's get back up there." Wormmon nodded, and then turned around and started up his thread with Ken above him. Unfortunately, the silk rope was only made for one: Wormmon. The thread snapped and the pair of them spiraled back down towards the bottom of the pit, helpless to stop it this time. Fortunately the floor was only five feet away.

"Ooph!" Wormmon dropped to his feet and rolled away just before Ken slammed down above him, fortunately unharmed. "I guess that didn't really work the way I wanted it to."

"It's okay; at least we're alive." Ken groaned as he dragged himself up and against a wall to recuperate.

"But where?" Wormmon inquired. "I can't see anything down here."

"I wish we had T.K.'s flashlight." Ken added.

"They could have at least left the trap door open so we could have some light down here."

"Wormmon, I don't think he intended for me to survive the fall." A putrid odor then caught Ken's attention. "Ugh, it smells like death in here."

"I wonder how that works." Said Wormmon. "Digimon don't do death."

"Well you don't feel any bones do you?" Wormmon felt around, and then answered.

"No."

"Good. That means we're the first to be thrown down here; and hopefully the last before T.K. and Patamon get the others to safety."

"Even if he gets the others out, what are we going to do? I'm sorry but I forgot your digivice and the crest."

"We'll think of something, even if we can't see what we're thinking of."

"That was a horrible joke."

"I know. You couldn't see but I was kicking myself as I said it."

"Okay just stop before I hurt you."

"RAAAGGGHHHWWW!!!" A piercing roar boomed throughout what they now knew to be a large room.

"What was that!?" Ken jumped. A moment later, a torch lit up three feet in front of him, revealing a long hallway. Wide enough for any large ultimate digimon.

"What the-?" Wormmon gasped. Ken stood up and ran to the end of the hallway, which branched out ot the left and right.

"These pathways branch of in other directions, and they all have torches!" Ken yelled back to Wormmon. The rookie hopped to his partner and gazd at the two directions.

"There aren't any doors…" The monster mumbled. "Why would there be all of these hallways and no doors?"

"Aw damn…" Ken pressed his temple. "It's a maze."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's here so we can get lost trying to find another way out." Then, a Minotarumon (a human-bull hybrid, 30 feet tall, with a Gatling gun replacing his right arm) rounded the corner on the left and growled at them.

"Or maybe it's here so that digimon can chase us around and kill us while we don't have any way to defend ourselves."

"RRRAAAWWW!!!" Minotarumon started dashing down the hallway after the two.

"Run!" Wormmon ordered. Ken didn't have to be told. He took off down the hallway in the opposite direction of the Minotarumon, turning down another corridor just before his pursuer pounced onto the other end of the hallway.

"Minotarumon are just champions right!?" Ken panted as he pumped his legs as fast as he could down the hallway, then making a left just before Minotarumon gained enough speed to ram them, which he tried to do. "Can't you handle him!?"

"Not that one; he's an ultimate!"

"How can you tell?"

"He's twice as tall as a regular Minotarumon!"

"Damn!" Ken swore, curving to the right quickly. Minotarumon responded by punching at the boy with his metal arm just before Ken turned, his attack only hitting air. Ken then raced down that hallway, curving left at the next intersection, then another left, then a right, then another right, then a left, then straight, then left, left, right, straight, right, right, left, right, straight, straight, right, right, right, left, left, dead end.

"Agh!" Wormmon gasped at the sight of the brick wall. "Dead end!"

"I see that!" Ken exclaimed, pressing his back against the wall so he could face the open hallway, where Minotarumon was staring at them with a hunger in his eyes, knowing that he had finally trapped his foe. "You think we can reason with him?"

"No, you can't." The gruff voiced monster replied before Wormmon. As he spoke, a death stained stench poured out of his mouth and filled the enclosed space.

"Damn, he speaks." Wormmon sighed. "That means we probably can't outsmart him either."

"So what do we do?" Ken murmured.

"Surprise him." Wormmon whispered into Ken's ear. "Sticky Web!" Wormmon jumped off of Ken's shoulder and fired a pre-made spider web at Minotarumon, which the monster expected and slapped away. He then raised his metal arm and slammed the arthropod's gut, knocking him into a wall.

"Wormmon!" Ken gasped in helpless worry.

"This is who the Dark Masters are so afraid of?" Minotarumon scoffed, stomping closer to Ken, "I can't believe you were chosen to save the digital world. That's why I joined Pharaohmon; higher life expectancy."

"Y-you know that the Dark Masters are evil?" Ken slipped to sit on the ground, too terrified to move.

"It is better to be at the side of the Devil than in his path human."

"I beg to differ." Ken gulped.

"Who do you think you are?" Minotarumon cocked his head. "You and I have both been in the employment of the masters. How do you have the right to judge me?"

"Because I couldn't control what I did: you can."

"Really? You couldn't control any of your actions?" Minotarumon gave a mock smile. "You didn't have any influence on how you tormented my world for a hundred and one years? Really?"

"Yet you're doing the same thing that I did." Ken slowly began to inch towards Wormmon. "You're about to plunge this world into darkness by working for the same creatures who took my soul and made me do…" Ken couldn't finish his sentence.

"Ah, but that's where you are wrong." The increasingly wising Minotaur laughed. "You see, your and the evil digidestined's decision to take over the digital world, turn it into Spiral Mountain, and enslave every one of us: that was all you. That was you five's decision. The Dark Masters just have different opinions on how to run this world than the Royal Knights' opinion."

"Yet not two minutes ago you just called them the devil."

"What did Pharaohmon say to you just before he threw you in here?" Minotarumon inquired.

"Excuse me?"

"Every digimon that Pharaohmon tossed in here over the past week, and believe me there were a lot of them, was told some final words by him. What did he tell you?" Ken glared at him for a second before answering.

"He told me, "I hope you're as smart as you think you are, because the human gods won't save you here. Only Yggdrasil rules in this domain, and he is not on your side."

"Ah, never truer words spoken." Minotarumon laughed, and then raised his weapon at Ken. "Your _God_, your _Brahman_, your _Buddha_, none of them exist here. All that Yggdrasil allows is survival of the fittest, and right now, you're-gh!" Minotarumon's face froze. He dropped his arm, and then fell to his knees. After his large body fell, an array of shining white wings appeared from behind. Ken heard a blade being yanked out of Minotarumon's back, and the monster's torso fell to the ground, dissipating.

"Geez Ken, we're gone for 30 minutes and this happens?" T.K. beamed from MagnaAngemon's back.

"T.K.! How did you get in here!?" Ken cheered as he scrambled over to the unconscious Wormmon.

"We saw the Minotarumon coming in through a gate close by." The boy answered. "Where are Matt and the others?"

"They're on the upper level, probably waiting for Minotarumon to report to Pharaohmon that we're dead so he can throw someone else down here."

"Oh! So what do we do?"

"Get back upstairs and save everyone?" Ken suggested.

"Sounds good." MagnaAngemon nodded.

***

"What is taking Minotarumon so long…?" Pharaohmon pondered to himself while drumming his fingers on the arm of his throne. "Does he not get the concept of one by one?"

"BAM!!!" Pharaohmon's sarcophagus flew into the air and crashed into the left wall.

"Hey!" Pharaohmon lunged off of his throne and stomped towards the opening. "What is happening over here?"

"Strike of the Seven Stars!" Seraphimon popped out of the whole and fired the seven projectiles into Pharaohmon's gut. The digimon was too surprised to defend and was slammed into (and through) the wall, into the next room.

"You forgot someone!" T.K. cheered.

"Takeru!" Matt cried with relief.

"Ooph!" Eric drove his elbows into his captor's gut, who in turn stumbled into the Mummymon behind him who was holding Eric's digivice and crest.

"Agh!" Tentomon broke free of the two surprised Mummymon who were restraining him and snatched the two devices from the fallen monster's hand.

**"Tentomon, warp digivolve to… HerculesKabuterimon!" **Jumping outside, the new mega ripped through the crowd of Mummymon and knocked them off of the pyramid; save for the ones at the front who still had the destined's digivices.

"Blue Blaster!" Gabumon fired a small blast at the face of one of the Mummymon. Matt then jumped at the surprised monster and latched onto his enclosed palm which held the boy's effects.

**"Gabumon, warp digivolve to… MetalGarurumon!"**

"You need to make sure Pharaohmon is knocked out." Ken said to T.K. quickly before jumping off of Seraphimon's back and running to join the brawl between destined and Mummymon that was now occurring.

"No problem." The boy nodded, and then Seraphimon raced through the door that Pharaohmon had made, finding themselves in… the labyrinth.

"Damn…" Seraphimon gazed across the empty hallway, "There must be multiple floors to it."

"We'll never find him in time; we should go help the others." T.K. determined.

"I agree." Seraphimon replied, and then turned around to exit the labyrinth to Pharaohmon's throne room, where they saw the gap in the wall repairing itself. The pair was too dazed to realize what was happening until the wall completely sealed itself and trapped them within the maze.

"Crap."

***

"Metal Wolf Claw!" MetalGarurumon fired an icy blast at one of the few remaining Mummymon in the throne room, who's head was vaporized by the attack. His body crumpled to the floor, staying intact just long enough to trip another Mummymon who was trying to dodge an attack from Infermon. He instead had to throw his arms out to block the fall and was met with a horn in his back.

"Yah!" Ophanimon slammed a line of Mummymon with her energy cross and knocked them out of the room.

"Double Horn Buster," A quick blast from HerculesKabuterimon took care of virtually every Mummymon on the staircase.

"That's most of them," HerculesKabuterimon spoke softly, "But I can see a storm of them coming towards the pyramid."

"How long until they get here?" Tai inquired.

"Looks like it'll be around five minutes since they're so far away." He responded before degenerating to Tentomon and flying back into the room from hovering outside the pyramid.

"Then we need to find a way out of here before then." Tai determined.

"One of those Mummymon still has Ken's digivice though." Eric responded, "We can't leave without that."

"So it looks like we'll have to fight." Kari reasoned.

"But there's still Pharaohmon to deal with," Said Salamon, "How do we handle him and those Mummymon?"

"It looks like Seraphimon surprised Pharaohmon pretty good and knocked him out, so we should be safe from him for a while-" Tai was interrupted.

"Where's T.K?" Matt suddenly panicked, gazing around the room and observing that he and Seraphimon were no longer there.

"He went into that other chamber to make sure that Pharaohmon was unconscious…" Ken pointed to where the hole that Pharaohmon had created was supposed to be, and then realized that it wasn't there. "Wha…?"

***

"Excalibur!" Seraphimon drove his energy blade into the recently healed wall, trying desperately once again to re-open the hole, but once again nothing happened. The sword didn't even make a dent (or a noise for that matter) against the apparently impenetrable barrier. He had already tried a variety of energy attacks, and his sword was his last hope.

"How did Pharaohmon fly through here and you can't even make a scratch?" T.K. panicked.

"I don't know," Seraphimon gasped, "But it won't keep doing it for long: Strike of the Seven Stars!" Seraphimon fired a septet of energy spheres at the wall to no avail once again.

"Maybe you should stop while you still have enough energy left." T.K. proposed.

"I have to keep at it; we'll never get out of here otherwise."

"There are two other exits that we know of."

"Yes but in order to get to them we have to get downstairs, and we have no idea how to do that. For that matter we don't even know if this floor of the labyrinth even leads to the other level. Not to mention the fact that Pharaohmon is still in here somewhere, and since he's not lying unconscious in the middle of this hallway where he should be I'm guessing he is awake."

"Seraphimon, the wall healed itself after we came through it. Don't you think there is a reason for that?"

"Yes, to trap us in here."

"No, I mean, this pyramid obviously has some life-like traits, so if it healed itself once, don't you think it could heal itself again?"

"As in every time I hit it?"

"Yeah."

"So we should take the chance and just hope that we don't get lost trying to find the stairs off of this floor?"

"Mm hm."

"Okay." Seraphimon conceded. He looked to the left and right, and then spoke. "So which way should we start?"

"Well we looked through most of the left half of the pyramid the first time, and we never saw a staircase, so I think we should go right."

"Right then." Seraphimon nodded and started hovering down the hallway with Takeru safely on his back.

"You give up that easily? Wow, how did anyone ever lose to you?" A condescending voice behind them laughed. Seraphimon quickly spun around to see Pharaohmon half hidden in the shadows created by the torches.

"I was wondering when you'd show yourself." Seraphimon mouthed back.

"Well, I was a little incapacitated for a moment there, as you could imagine, so I needed a second to get back on my feet."

"Where are Izzy and Terriermon!?" T.K. suddenly demanded to know, popping his head up from Seraphimon's back.

"Takeru, shh!" His partner urged.

"What are you talking about?" Pharaohmon cocked his head. "Oh, you mean the boy we found in the tunnel? Yeah, he's in here. I had this elaborate scheme planned to have Minotarumon kill him, but it proved to be a little too difficult, so I was going to just straight up kill him until you people arrived this morning." The mega explained. "You want to see him?" Before either partner could respond Pharaohmon snapped his fingers, signaling yet another servant of his to do something that, unlike last time, was much more dramatic.

"Woah!" Seraphimon slipped as the floor under him started sliding to his right, into the wall, which was now rearranging itself.

"Seraphimon, move!" T.K. ordered in panic as the wall suddenly began to close around them. Seraphimon abandoned his stare down with Pharaohmon and jumped out of the way just in time to avoid being crushed by that part of the wall… and be crushed by the other part. The entire hallway was now pulling together, and Seraphimon had to act quickly to avoid destruction. Seraphimon bolted down the hall and jumped into the next one, barely avoiding the last brick to slam against the other wall. Seraphimon then had to flip and dodge around the rest of the walls as they twisted, turned, folded, and conformed to a new shape that, once all was over, cleared the entire floor of the labyrinth and revealed a large earth mound in the center, where a post and lintel altar was sitting on top with a young, spiky headed boy chained to it.

"Originally I was going to make a game out of it; have Minotarumon explore the entire maze until he found the boy. But it took too long so I was going to show Minotarumon where I hid him, until you children arrived and I completely forgot about it." Pharaohmon explained as he stood halfway up the mound. "But now that you've effectively ruined my Cretan plan, I think I'll just obliterate him now."

"Don't touch him!" Seraphimon ordered.

"I don't need to you fool," Pharaohmon scoffed, "He's been hanging there for days. He's tired, dehydrated, all I need to do is leave him there and he'll die on his own; hopefully by tomorrow."

"Strike of the Seven Stars!" Seraphimon attacked the mummy in anger.

"Decayer Reign!" Pharaohmon responded by raising both of his palms and firing green and red energy beams from each. They easily countered Seraphimon's attack and almost blasted him, but fortunately the seraph dodged and rolled away. T.K. unlatched from Seraphimon's back and dropped to the floor so that Seraphimon could then get closer to his opponent.

"Hand of Fate!" Seraphimon lunged forward and prepared a glowing fist to plant into Pharaohmon's face. But the Dark Master had other plans. He caught the monster's fist (showing no signs of pain) before the energy could blast from it and slammed Seraphimon's face into the ground. Pharaohmon then planted his foot in Seraphimon's gut and rolled him over.

"Pathetic." Pharaohmon scoffed. "Decayer Reign," A single red blast pierced Seraphimon's chest and degenerated him to Patamon.

"Hhh!" T.K. surpassed a gasp, but it was too late. Pharaohmon's eyes (though non-seeable to T.K.) darted in his direction, and the monster was reminded of the boy's presence.

"Thank you boy, I almost forgot about you." Pharaohmon laughed as he started walking in T.K.'s direction. "I can't have the partner die if his human is free to get him back at Primary Village."

"You won't win." T.K. said determinedly as he, shaking, rose to his feet. "My friends and I will beat you, no matter what."

"Ah, if you only knew how wrong you are." Pharaohmon shook his head. "You see I'm perfectly confident that I will destroy the lot of you, but just in case I don't I have this great backup plan set up to ensure my victory if you defeat me."

"What, your other Dark Masters? We defeated two of them already, and we'll defeat the rest of them." T.K. growled in growing anger.

"And how do you expect to do that?"

"The Royal Knights will stop you."

"Ha! The Royal Knights?" Pharaohmon was amused at T.K.'s proclamation as he started to circle the boy. "The Royal Knights don't have the capacity to stop our plan. Besides, what do you know about the _Royal Knights_?"

"Didn't Devimon tell you?" T.K. asked defiantly.

"_Myotismon_ didn't stop here; he went on to JumboGamemon's city. I still don't see the correlation with the Knights. So please, enlighten me."

"My partner's one."

"Haaa!!!" Pharaohmon doubled back in laughter, gripping his stomach to brace himself against the pain.

"And so are my friends."

"Oh, ye-he-hes, I've heard about Omnimon's human partners." Pharaohmon calmed himself. "And about the other Knights who are supposed to be hidden within your ranks." Pharaohmon slapped himself to stop laughing. "But what could possibly make you believe that _you_ are one of them?"

"I-I just know." T.K. stuttered uncertainly.

"Oh please," Pharaohmon stopped circling the boy and began making his way over to him slowly, "The little girl has a better chance of being a Royal Knight than you."

"What makes you an expert?"

"Because I know the Seraphimon that was a member of the Royal Knights," Pharaohmon smiled evilly, "And he's currently a vampire making his way to another Dark Master with your pal Agumon under his wing. You are just a bratty little child with ridiculous delusions of grandeur!" Pharaohmon raised his fist and was about to strike. Takeru winced.

"Boom Bubble!" Patamon hopped to his feet and fired a virtually useless attack at Pharaohmon's palm, fortunately distracting him. "T.K., get out of there!" The wounded digimon cried.

"Both of you are pathetic; I should have just killed the lot of you when I had the chance. Now I'm going to have to go through the song and dance of hunting all of your little friends down" (as he spoke he threw his arm towards T.K. and grabbed him by the collar. Patamon fired a series of Boom Bubbles to no avail) "and killing them as they try to resist me." Pharaohmon raised his other fist and drew it back.

"T.K.!!!" Patamon dashed towards his partner, who then punched Pharaohmon in the eye.

"Ow!" Pharaohmon gasped in surprise. "Did you just hit me?" T.K. nodded.

"I might just prolong your pain for that."

"You won't get the chance. Patamon is a Royal Knight. I know that because he has to be; because we have to defeat you and I won't rest until that happens!"

"You'll die first!" Pharaohmon threw T.K. into the ground, not paying attention to the burning light coming from his crest and Patamon, who was almost upon them.

**R-O-Y-A-L D-I-G-I-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N**

**"Takeru!"**

**"Patamon!"**

**"Royal Digivolve to… Dynasmon!" **

The newly evolved digimon socked Pharaohmon in the gut and threw him across the room.

"The reason you don't remember me," Dynasmon growled, "Is because while Gallantmon and UlforceVeedramon were fighting you off, I was recovering with my and Crusadermon's fight with Vikemon. I didn't make it to you."

"Oh…" The awe-stricken monster replied as he dragged himself to his feet. As Dynasmon's evolution light began to fade, Pharaohmon could finally get a good look at his opponent. Dynasmon was, like all of the Royal Knights, an intimidating figure. A humanoid standing around six foot five, Dynasmon was covered in white and gold armor, with gold boots, knee pads, and chest piece. White shin guards, leg guards, pelvic guards, gauntlets, stomach guards, shoulder pieces, and a white helmet with curved horns garnished him as well. His upper arms were blue and his hands were covered in a similar blue armor with red spheres implanted in his palms. Large white angel wings stretched out from his back.

"Oh? That's all you have to say to me: oh?"

"What do you want: an apology? Well too-AGH!" Pharaohmon spit out blood as Dynasmon slammed his deadly claws into Pharaohmon's gut with lightning speed.

"I hope for your sake that backup plan of yours is as solid as you say it is," Dynasmon spoke quietly as he retracted his arm, flicking the blood off of his fingers, "Because I now have to unleash a hellacious fury on your kinsmen, and I really don't want to do that." Pharaohmon didn't reply. He collapsed, and died. Dynasmon then immediately dashed up the hill up to the altar that Izzy was hanging from (via shackles on his arms connected to the upper stone) and severed the chains, catching the tired boy in his arms. "Izzy, are you okay?"

"Who are… you?" Izzy asked with exhaustion. The boy was awake, barely. Days of water deprivation had taken their toll.

"It's Seraphimon, I'm just a little improved." Dynasmon replied as he began to walk down the hill. He then stopped, looked around, and realized what was wrong. "Izzy, where is Terriermon?"

"Huh?"

"Terriermon, your partner; where is he?"

"Terriermon…" Izzy recited with a broken voice and tears in his eyes.

"Izzy, what happened?"

"They… they killed him."

***

Just for clarification, the original Dynasmon obviously has dragon wings, but since my Dynasmon digivolved from an angel digimon, I didn't want him to be a dragon type so I gave him feathered wings.


	63. Through Fire We Cleanse Our Sins

**Chapter Sixty Three: Through Fire We Cleanse Our Sins**

"BAM!!!" Ophanimon slammed her energy cross into the wall once again to no avail. She had been hammering at the wall that T.K., Seraphimon, and Pharaohmon had disappeared into for a while now, and every time the result had been the same: nothing.

"Why would you tell him to go in there Ken?" Matt demanded to know of his ally in a panic.

"I just meant that he should and check to make sure that Pharaohmon was knocked out, not explore some self healing room." Ken breathed heavily, sharing Matt's concern for the safety of the younger tamer.

"It's no use," Ophanimon finally conceded, "This wall won't break." Then, in the corner of the room, the wall collapsed and a tall white knight with a spiky haired boy in his arms walked through.

"Dynasmon!" MetalGarurumon gasped in surprise.

"Garun," Dynasmon nodded casually. He then passed the wolf and walked into the center of the room. He obviously had bigger things on his mind.

"Is that Izzy?" Tai gaped at the boy that Dynasmon was placing in the center of the room.

"He is dehydrated." Dynasmon answered. "Pharaohmon had him locked up in the labyrinth for days. We need to get him out of here and get him some fluids."

"Poor Izzy," Kari sighed, placing the back of her hand against his forehead, "He's so cold."

"His organs are beginning to fail," Dynasmon revealed, "He needs water immediately or he'll go into a coma and die."

"Can we get out of here with all of the opposition; Pharaohmon and the Mummymon?" Koichi inquired.

"Pharaohmon is no longer a problem, and I'll take care of the Mummymon easily." Pharaohmon then stood up. "Watch him for a minute; I'll be back with Ken's digivice." He exited the room while the rest of the destined gathered around the boy to comfort him.

"Where's Terriermon?" Tentomon asked quickly.

"He didn't make it." Dynasmon answered quietly.

***

"So what happened?" One Mummymon said to another as the rest of the Mummymon in the city scrambled up the steps of the grand pyramid.

"The boy with the Angemon, who escaped earlier, he appeared and attacked Pharaohmon before he could defend himself and broke the other destined free." The other Mummymon answered.

"Didn't anyone tell master Pharaohmon about the boy we were still looking for?"

"…He's going to kill us isn't he?"

"No, I will." A voice spoke from the top of the staircase and fired an energy blast at the ultimate who asked the question. He immediately died. All of the Mummymon screeched to a halt in order to avoid running into Dynasmon. They knew an ultimate mega when they saw one. "One of you took my ally Ken Ichijoji's digivice and crest." Dynasmon spoke out to the terrified crowd. "Bring it to me and I might spare your lives. Pharaohmon is dead so don't count on any alternative." His orders were clear. Ten minutes later a Mummymon scrambled up the steps with the two devices in tow and dropped them in Dynasmon's palm.

"H-h-here you g-go." The Mummymon mumbled.

"Thank you." Dynasmon replied. "Breath of Wyvern!" Dynasmon blew a torrent out of his lungs which obliterated every digimon on the staircase. He then turned around and walked back into the throne chamber.

"Why did you do that?" MetalGarurumon asked with surprise.

"It's better this way." Dynasmon responded. "Now they won't remember what they have done; at least for now."

"Dynasmon you-"

"He killed a Royal Knight, what would you have me do?" Dynasmon brushed past his ally and picked up the limp form of Koushiro and began walking towards the exit. "We need to get him to a water source right away. He needs immediate hydration."

"Do you think we can get him back to the ice palace rubble before it's too late?" Tai inquired.

"I can. Once we get to the path I'll have to go ahead of you. I'm faster than the rest of you combined."

"Let's not waste any time." Eric determined. "Tentomon, get to it." He nodded to his partner, who exited the chamber and warp digivolved to MegaKabuterimon.

***

"Agh…" Mummymon suppressed a pain-caused scream as he dragged his shattered body up the grand staircase that led to Vikemon's fortress. The only support he had was his rifle, which he was using as a crutch to support his left leg, which was too mangled to describe. The pain he was experiencing was coming from his arms however. They were both broken in places he couldn't determine because the pain was too excruciating for him to think. But he wouldn't give up. The digidestined had done exactly what Pharaohmon warned them they would do. Dynasmon obliterated every last citizen in the city. Mummymon only had one chance. If he wanted to avenge Pharaohmon and his fallen brethren, he only had one option.

He reached the top of the staircase, where he dropped to his one good knee and felt around the ground. It only took him a few seconds to find the tile he was looking for. He found a small indention in between two of them and jammed the nose of his rifle inside, using it as a wedge to pop the desired tile open. He then dropped his rifle and rolled onto his back, suppressing a scream from the pain radiating throughout his body. He rolled back over and dropped his arm into the hole, then input a numbered key into a panel under the tile space. A question then appeared on an LCD screen on the panel. Mummymon pressed the yes button.

***

They all headed for the exit, everyone but Dynasmon and Izzy on Megakabuterimon's back. Dynasmon carried the wounded Koushiro in his arms, preparing to speed up in order to get the boy to some nourishment in time.

"I'll go on ahead," Dynasmon announced, "Meet us at the fortress where we met Armormon, if it's still there."

"And if it's not?" Tai inquired.

"Then I will wait for you at the remains of Vikemon's fortress." He replied.

"Maybe one pair of us should go with you, just in case." Matt proposed before Dynasmon was about to take off.

"Don't worry, I haven't expelled much energy since I digivolved." Dynasmon replied. "I won't need to degenerate for a few days at least. Just try to get there as fast as you can."

"Okay, be careful." Matt nodded, and then Dynasmon spun around to continue on through the tunnel.

"Is that a Mummymon down there?" Megakabuterimon murmured.

"BOOM!!!" The tunnel ahead collapsed. One of the front rocks broke off in a curve and slammed into the Mummymon's body, killing it.

"Move!" Dynasmon shoved Megakabuterimon out of the way just as a slab from the roof of the cavern crashed down in front of them. Megakabuterimon's passengers then glanced up at the ceiling to see multiple cracks formulating.

"This won't be good." Eric murmured.

"Move Now!!!" Dynasmon ordered. Megakabuterimon didn't have to be told twice. He bolted across the cavern along with Dynasmon as slabs of rock from above began to rain down above them.

"Not again…" Izzy muttered in delirium.

"There's got to be another way out of here, in case of emergencies." Dynasmon reasoned as they flew at top speed away from the falling rock.

"There's no way we'll find it with all of these obstacles." Kari replied.

"I've got an idea;" He answered. "Hold him." Dynasmon then gently placed Izzy into Tai and Mat's arms and sped forward in front of Megakabuterimon. "Breath of Wyvern!" Dynasmon blasted a deadly breath at the buildings below. They shattered as Dynasmon's attack blew past them, removing the obstructions to the digidestined's view.

"There!" Koichi pointed to the other side of a cavern, past the (still intact) pyramid, to a small cave that exited from the bottom of the cavern.

"Let's hurry!" Dynasmon grabbed Megakabuterimon's arm and dived down, gaining momentum as he did so to try and reach the cave before it was too-

"Rock!" Gabumon warned and Megakabuterimon swerved away just in time before it could crash into the ultimate insect's back.

"Move faster please!" Eric called to his partner as more of the ceiling started to collapse around them. Megakabuterimon didn't need any extra incentive. He double-timed it across the now barren floor after Dynasmon, who was busy knocking boulders out of the way that would have otherwise hurled into Megakabuterimon from the sky. A few quick maneuvers later the two digimon had blasted out of the cavern and into the small cave that was just big enough for Megakabuterimon to fit inside of comfortably. They made it a few hundred feet into the lightless path before slowing down to observe the scene behind them. They watched in horror as the mouth of the cave slowly disappeared as a pile of rocks layered and layered until their light source (and exit) was gone.

"Craaaap." Gabumon enunciated.

"At least we're all still alive." Kari said optimistically.

"Yeah but Izzy won't be if we don't get him to some water soon." Ken added pessimistically.

"I can't see anything in here. It is pitch black." Dynasmon spoke. "We're all in trouble if we can't find our way out of here."

"If Agumon were here he could light us a fire." Tai whispered to himself.

"I can get us some light." Gatomon proposed.

"Then go for it." Dynasmon nodded, although no one could see it.

"**Gatomon digivolve to… Angewomon!"** Angewomon provided a short burst of light when she evolved, and then the room faded back into darkness. "Heaven's Charm!" She then formed an enormous energy cross in her hands, which shone brightly enough to provide light to the immediate area. The group looked around to see that they were in a straightforward path underground that, fortunately, led upwards. However they could not see more than a few hundred yards into the path.

"It won't do us any good to go forward and get lost in here." Dynasmon announced. "Give me the cross and I'll go on ahead and try to find an exit."

"Don't take too long." Angewomon hovered over to Dynasmon and handed him the glowing cross. Dynasmon then flapped forward and flew down the long tunnel. It wasn't long (Dynasmon was very fast) until the light source disappeared and the group was in total darkness again.

"Think we could get another one of those crosses Angewomon?" Tai asked.

"I can only make one at a time, sorry." Angewomon shrugged to no one's visual acknowledgement.

An awkward silence followed.

"So…" Koichi began.

"Not now." Matt interrupted.

An awkward silence remained. For the next half hour, nobody spoke. Fortunately Dynasmon came back relatively quickly, the energy cross signaling his arrival.

"My friends," Dynasmon began as he returned to Megakabuterimon and his passengers, "The cave goes on for a while and then breaks off at an underground river and chamber. I smelled fresh air in there; we might be able to escape that way." Overjoyed, the destined signaled Megakabuterimon to fly up the path as Dynasmon led them to (hopefully) freedom.

***

"You call this a river?" Kari tilted her head as she stared at the three-foot wide stream that was trickling down the small slope of a large cavern that went into two directions.

"It doesn't matter what it is as long as we have water for Izzy to drink." Dynasmon answered, then grabbing the wounded Koushiro and flying down to the small creak. "Besides, this whole path seems to be the river bed; it just doesn't seem to be very… full at the moment."

"Is there any way to make sure there aren't any bacteria or parasites in the water before you have Izzy drink out of it?" Ken inquired.

"What is a parasite?" Dynasmon inquired before he dipped his palms into the water and scooped up a handful of the liquid.

"It's a little too late to be worrying about that, don't you think Ken?" Eric stated.

"Cgh, cgh!" Near the stream, Izzy started to cough as the water that Dynasmon was feeding him began to register to the boy's body.

"Give it to him slowly!" Ken warned while racing down the river bed. "You don't want him to go into some sort of shock."

"I know what I'm doing Ken." Dynasmon replied as he waited for Izzy to unconsciously clear his throat. "I am a Royal Knight after all. I spent a lot of time on the battlefield and had to heal a lot of wounded soldiers back to health when there wasn't a medic around."

"Sorry." Ken muttered as he slowed down.

"Do _you_ know what you're doing Ken?" Eric jabbed again, earning a glare from Ken.

"terriermon…" Izzy began to mutter his partner's name.

"Izzy. Izzy, can you hear me?" Dynasmon inquired as he lightly tapped the semi-conscious boy's cheek. Izzy's eyes began to flutter open and he managed to give an answer.

"Who are you…?" He groaned.

"My name is Dynasmon. I'm a Royal Knight, your friend. Are you okay; relatively speaking?"

"Where's Terriermon?" He spoke with more coherency.

"Izzy, don't you remember what you told me before, at the pyramid?" Dynasmon inquired cautiously. Izzy stared at him for a minute with confusion all over his face. Then the answer came to him.

"No… Terriermon… They killed him."

"I know Izzy. I'm so sorry."

"He was… he was too weak to fight back. They just- they just stomped on his…" Izzy seemed too mortified to speak.

"It's okay. You don't have to tell me." Dynasmon shushed the boy.

"My chest really hurts, and my throat is really sore." Izzy started complaining.

"You're extremely dehydrated Izzy. You've been locked up without any nutrients in Pharaohmon's labyrinth for days. It's a miracle you haven't suffered a heat stroke by now."

"Is that- how you digivolved; by getting me out of there?" Izzy began to stutter.

"Yes. Takeru and I combined. We defeated Pharaohmon and then we brought you to this river so you could get some water. The rest of the digidestined are here too."

"T.K.," Izzy spoke dopily, "Thanks buddy." Izzy's head then sagged to the ground and he closed his eyes.

"Izzy, Izzy! I need you to wake up." Dynasmon patted the side of the boy's head.

"I'm awake." Izzy's eyes sprang open.

"Izzy, I need you to start drinking some of this water, but I need you to do it very slowly. Can you sit up or at least lean over?"

"I- I think so." Izzy then began to prop himself up with his arms. He struggled at first but eventually was able to sit (at least partially) upright so that he could reach the water.

***

"Are you sure you're okay Izzy?" Tai asked in passing as he was retrieving another bowl (they had crafted them out of some large stones in the area) of water to give to his sister and Gatomon.

"I wish people would stop asking me that." Izzy groaned again. "I told you I'm fine."

"I'm sorry. We were all just so worried about you after what happened at Vikemon's."

"I know. I'd just rather not get into a conversation about it right now if that's okay with you."

"Yeah, I'll go." Tai shrugged. He dipped his bowl into the stream and left Izzy to himself, returning to Kari, Gatomon, and the rest of the group, who were gathered in a half-ass circle discussing what was next. "So Izzy's still not in the mood to talk." Tai sighed quietly as he returned to the group and handed Kari the bowl of water.

"Can you blame him?" Kari groaned just as quietly as she recieved the bowl of water from Tai. She struggled to get comfortable again. For the past few days she had a laptop computer strapped to her back but now it was back with her rightful owner.

"We need to let Izzy heal at his own pace," Dynasmon reasoned, "Right now we need to be focusing on what our next course of action will be."

"Obviously we need to get out of here and find our way back to Rika and the others." Tai said with determination. "Then we can find the last three Dark Masters and destroy them."

"That might not be plausible now Tai." Gabumon said with a regretful voice.

"Why do you say that?"

"Don't be coy Tai," Dynasmon answered for him, "We lost Terriermon. We almost lost Izzy. Our actions to save the digital world have been very dangerous in the past, but we've put you into too much danger in the last week; way more than you've ever been in before."

"Don't start with that now!" Tai jumped to his feet. "We already said it before. We're going to help you defeat the Dark Masters and that is final!"

"Things are different now Tai. We've lost three Royal Knights already and-"

"Nothing is different Dynasmon." Kari stood by her brother. "You don't think we know the danger we're in? We chose to help you fight this war no matter what happened to us."

"But you're just children." Gabumon argued.

"We're not just children," Eric struggled to his crutches, "We're digidestined. We were brought her for a reason."

"You were brought here because Leopardmon made a judgment call based on the dire situation he was in before. But we're not in that situation anymore." Dynasmon explained. "Now that I've returned to my normal state soon I'll be able to digivolve between Patamon and Dynasmon at will, and so will Renamon. We'll be able to deal with this threat without endangering your lives."

"We couldn't live with ourselves if we just up and abandoned you to take on the Dark Masters by yourselves. No offense but there is only three of you right now." Tai reasoned. "It'll take months or years for the other three Royal Knights to digivolve by themselves, and by that time it could be too late!"

"That's a risk we're willing to take." Gabumon answered. "We can come back to life if the Dark Masters destroy us. You can't."

"They have a point Eric." Tentomon started. "We can't ask the same things of you that we have to ask of ourselves."

"Don't you start now too." Eric complained. "We're not having this discussion. We won't abandon you here to get massacred at the hands of a trio of psychopaths!"

"Maybe they are right." Ken murmured.

"What's that Ken?" Matt inquired.

"Not for us I mean; me, Koichi, Yolei, or the others. You guys have helped this world so much. It's too much to ask you to put your lives in such serious risk. Maybe you guys should go home and I and the others can help clean up the mess we made."

"Absolutely not!" Dynasmon stood up and stared at Ken. "You have nothing to be ashamed of. Your life is not less just because of what that dark needle made you do."

"I don't want to leave." Koichi stated determinedly. "I want to make right what we did. I can't just go home knowing that an entire world is in danger and I could have helped it."

"That's not the issue here Koichi-" Keramon began to persuade.

"No, that is the issue. We're going to help and there is nothing you can do to stop it."

"Don't you see? Your emotions are clouding your judgment on the matter!" Dynasmon urged.

"And your feelings about us are clouding yours!" Tai replied.

"I-!" Dynasmon was about to protest, and then some movement behind Tai caught his attention. "Izzy." The group turned around to see a drained looking Koushiro struggling to stay up.

"Izzy, what are you doing?" Tai jumped to catch Izzy before he fell over from his own nausea.

"They killed Terriermon. I want them to pay." Izzy said determinedly.

"I already made Pharaohmon and the Mummymon suffer for what they did." Dynasmon explained. "And Terriermon will return. It will take a while, but he will be alright."

"That's not the point." Izzy barked. "They killed Terriermon without an ounce of remorse. Pharaohmon did it, and the others will do it too. They'll march all over the digital world and murder any digimon who stand against them without remorse. Those digimon will come back, but the pain they will suffer over and over again could be worse than death. I won't stop at anything less than seeing them destroyed." Izzy clenched his fists and his arms vibrated in purpose and anger as he said this.

"What if we lose one of you?" Gabumon whimpered.

"You won't." Eric stated.

"But what if we DO?"

"You… won't." Eric growled again.

"What does T.K. have to say about this?" Matt inquired of Dynasmon.

"What?" Dynasmon cocked his head.

"I know he's in there, listening to the conversation. What does he have to say?" Dynasmon paused a second before answering.

"He says… he wants to stay and fight." Dynasmon choked.

"One other thing you're forgetting is that the Dark Masters still have Agumon." Tai stated with passion. "They have my partner, doing God knows what to him, and I can't rest until I know that he is safe."

"Then it looks like it is seven to six in favor of us staying." Matt stated. "Is it Ken?" He turned to the only black sheep among the humans.

"Yeah, it is." Ken sighed.

"Then that's that."

"You kids…" Dynasmon comedic washed tears out of his eyes. "You're just awesome you know that?"

"It's just what we do." Tai shrugged.

***

Megakabuterimon sliced through the air up the small upward slope that was the river bed. He and Dynasmon had decided to go upstream, as that was the most likely route that would lead them outside to freedom. It had paid off too. A small sliver of light had appeared above them, so they knew the exit was getting near.

"This is it." Dynasmon announced as they arrived at the exit. A large gap in the rock, an obvious extension of the river that was unfilled due to the river being so low, provided a shaft that led out of the cavern system and into… some other region.

"Let's hope we're not too far from Vikemon's citadel." Megakabuterimon commented as they exited the chamber.

"I don't think that's much of a possibility my friend." Dynasmon blinked in irritation and awe at the huge mountain valley they now found themselves in. They had just emerged from a cavern that split off from a major river that was halfway empty. The bottom of the valley was covered in grasses and shrubs, but shortly up the mountain faces it turned to nothing but rock and underbrush.

"I think we might be at the tree line." Eric murmured. "That's way too high for comfort."

"Most mountains in the digital world don't come up this high." Gabumon commented. "I don't know how, but we must be a lot closer to the city in the middle of the continent."

"Do we not know what the city is called?"

"We do not."

"It's going to be a long flight back to Armormon's fortress." Ken groaned.

"Yeah, but at least this time there won't be two Dark Masters and an army in between us."

"Until we come back," Dynasmon commented. "We should keep moving."

"I'm all for that." Megakabuterimon agreed. "This valley creeps me out a little." After Megakabuterimon's odd comment, the pair continued out of the valley, over the landform walls to arrive above the river area and into the rest of the mountains. Before anyone could take in any of the scenery however, a metal eagle the size of Megakabuterimon tackled the bug and tried to flip it over.

"Agh!!!" Kari slipped off of Megakabuterimon's back and plummeted towards the earth.

"Kari!" Gatomon lunged to grab her partner but was unsuccessful, as her grip on the ridges of Megakabuterimon's back was lost and she fell down after her partner.

"Agh!" Kari was only above Izzy and sequentially knocked him off of Megakabuterimon as well.

"Yah!" Before the Eaglemon could attack Megakabuterimon again, Dynasmon lunged in between them and pounced on the mega bird, slapping it around in ferocious anger.

"Kari, hold on!" Gatomon extended her paw towards her partner to no avail.

"Use your digivice!" Izzy cried into the air. Kari complied and tapped the electronic device clipped to her hip.

**"Gatomon digivolve to… Angewomon!"** Angewomon dived down and retrieved the two falling digidestined, but they were too close to the ground and she didn't have enough time to recover. So she flipped around and landed on her back, wounding herself but saving her allies from certain death. Unfortunately Angewomon temporarily lost control of her motor skills upon impact and dropped Izzy. He rolled down the slope of the mountain (they were now on the other side of the ridge) and became covered in reddish brown dirt before coming to a stop at a leveled rocky landing.

"You okay Angewomon?" Kari muttered as she wiped the tears that had quickly formed out of her eyes. Before Angewomon could answer however a large green parrot similar to Eaglemon's size gripped the two in its talons and flew off unbeknownst to the fighters above.

"Agh!!! Tai!!!" Kari squealed in terror as the Parrotmon disappeared over the mountains, out of sight of Dynasmon and the others, and began to circle a mountain with an odd heat radiating out of it.

"Kari, just hang on!" Angewomon groaned. "I'll get us out of this!"

"I beg to differ." The Parrotmon commented, and then dived towards the mountain. He was then met with an evenr larger bird monster that appeared from somewhere Kari could not see.

"Ah, digidestined, It's so thrilling to meet under such circumstances." The other bird boomed with glee.

"Who are you!? What do you want with us!?" Kari screamed.

"Now shouldn't you know that by now?" The bird laughed. "My name is Phoenixmon, and I am, as you should have guessed, one of the Dark Masters."

"Oh no." Kari gasped quietly.

"Oh no indeed." Phoenixmon chuckled. "Now prepare to die."

"No matter what you're planning, we'll stop you!" Kari regained her confidence.

"But you see, that's where you're wrong." Phoenixmon shook his head. "Because no matter how powerful you think you are, no one can survive a dip into an active volcano. Drop her!" Parrotmon obliged and unclenched his claws. Kari was stunned as her body spun around to see where she was falling. Angewomon couldn't help her. The angel's back was too wounded. No, Kari was worried that there might be little they could do to stop their plunge into a bubbling pool of lava.


	64. The Tragedy

**Chapter Sixty Four: The Tragedy**

"AAAHHH!!!" Kari struggled to regain control of her flailing body as she plummeted through the air towards the death inducing liquid below her.

"Don't worry Kari, I'm coming!" Angewomon called to her partner. The angel tried to curve in an attempt to fly towards her, but her back wouldn't let her. "Agh!"

Kari looked back between the lava and her partner. The situation around her was becoming clear. She was falling towards the center of the lava. Angewomon was near the edge of the crater. She reached down for her digivice but felt it wasn't there. Looking back up, she saw a small flash at the tip of Parrotmon's beak. Somehow, the ultimate had taken her digivice before she had fallen too far. Kari closed her eyes for a second. The situation was becoming dire. She grabbed her crest and pulled it off of her neck. She needed to make a decision.

"Angewomon, here!" Kari tossed the crest through the air towards her partner. Angewomon reacted as quickly as she could and barely caught the device. "Get out of here. Save yourself!"

"Kari, are you crazy?" Angewomon's eyes were shocked wide open, although they weren't visible under the metal visor on her head.

"I'll be okay! You can still get out of here if you try hard enough!" Kari cried.

"You're insane!" Angewomon shook her head violently. She then attempted again to curve towards Kari, this time with success. She glided towards Kari rather quickly and latched onto her partner, then trying to fly away from the volcano. "This is why Dynasmon wanted to send you all home!"

"The same thing would have happened once we got out of that cave! This was bound to happen anyway! You're too weak to fly both of us out of here! Save yourself and then maybe-!" Before Kari could finish Angewomon's back gave out and she spiraled into the lava.

"I don't know why nobody else thought of that." Phoenixmon said with a bright smile on his face. A monstrous bird of the vaccine type, Phoenixmon was the representation of what little good Apocalymon had in him, but evil nonetheless. He had a grey muscular chest of a mammal, but his golden feathers covering the rest of his body spoke otherwise to his class. He had four pairs of large wings as well as dozens of golden and red/yellow tails protruding from his lower back. Large black talons were chained at the ankles by gold bands. A sail of hair that graduated from yellow to purple lined Phoenixmon's back and a mane of the same type protruded just behind his neck. A golden helmet covered the top half of his beak, completing the false, holy persona.

"The girl was willing to sacrifice herself for her partner. Humans aren't supposed to do that." Parrotmon observed as he perched himself onto the edge of the crater.

"The girl was very mature for her age. She acted more like a woman who had lived a full life than an innocent young girl of 8. It doesn't matter though. The both of them are dead." Phoenixmon shook his feathers and landed on the opposite end of the crater.

"GYYYAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!" A huge surge of lava suddenly blew out of the crater and covered Parrotmon, finishing him. The digivice he was holding flew out of his beak in the process and landed safely on the side of the volcano. Phoenixmon struggled to stop from falling backwards as a fuchsia soldier rose from the pool and hovered in mid-air and shook off the now harmless molten rock that was dripping off the Royal Knight's body.

"That's just not fair." Phoenixmon gasped with wide, cartoonish sized eyes.

"What did you think was going to happen?" The digimon spoke. "You thought you were just going to murder an eight-year-old girl and get away with it?"

"Well I had my feathers crossed." Phoenixmon's shoulders drooped.

"You knew I was a Royal Knight." The pink warrior wiped a snake of lava off of her brow. "Some of us like to call that self destructive behavior."

"What might your name be?" Phoenixmon asked, changing the subject.

"Crusadermon." The Kari-Angewomon combination answered. Crusadermon was covered head to toe in slick, fuchsia armor, with golden joint guards, a round pink visor over her eyes, golden pands protruding from her wrist and shoulders, and a large golden shield was strapped to her right arm with a pink cross embedded on it. Placed in the middle of the cross was a large blue jewel.

"You don't look live the evolution of an angel." Phoenixmon said doubtedly. "You're a virus type aren't you?"

"You are a vaccine and you're pure evil. What is your point?" Crusadermon replied apathetically.

"Touché." Phoenixmon picked up his shoulders and folded his wings back.

"So rarely is there such a clear line between good and evil. This will be interesting." Said Crusadermon as a panel opened in her shield and her right hand became visible.

"Crusadermon, the indifferent warrior, who shows no compassion for the weak; you call that a definitive line?"

"Your facts are obscured." Crusadermon answered. "My compassion is not lost on the weak. It is lost on the corrupt. And as general of the Knights Corps of the Royal Army I am bound by duty to-" Crusadermon disappeared. Phoenixmon flinched in surprise. He didn't usually face opponents who didn't finish their speeches. He immediately flew into the air and went into a defensive pose.

"Where are you?" Phoenixmon grumbled. Suddenly, Crusadermon flashed in front of him, holding a rose in her left hand. Phoenixmon bounced back in surprise.

"I am bound by duty to bring the corrupt and wicked to justice." She then threw the rose at Phoenixmon. The bird swatted it away, or so he thought. Unbeknownst to him it stuck into his feathers as Phoenixmon flapped backwards.

"Now there's the good guy in you." Phoenixmon smiled. "You always finish your dialogue. Are you even going to try to make the first move?" In response, Crusadermon snapped her fingers. The rose that had stuck in Phoenixmon's wing then exploded.

"Gah!" Phoenixmon struggled to recover as he blew out the flames that were ripping his feathers to shreds. "Damn." He then looked up, only to see that Crusadermon had disappeared again. "Is this how you're going to fight me; sneak attacks with cherry bomb flowers?" Phoenixmon scoffed at the prospect. Unfortunately for him Crusadermon then faded in front of him with her shield arm drawn behind her torso.

"Fist of Athena!" She thrust her arm forward and a flurry of sonic waves poured into Phoenixmon's chest, cracking multiple rips.

"Agh!" Phoenixmon spiraled downwards and slammed into the side of the volcano. He shook the pain off, then looked up to see a sight that terrified him. A storm of roses were falling from the sky right towards him. He immediately jumped up and flew away from the rain, over the crater. "AGH!.." Crusadermon struck Phoenixmon in the spinal cord, paralyzing the digimon. Phoenixmon then spiraled down into the crater, unable to stop himself as he plunged down never to be seen again.

***

Dynasmon crushed his fist into Eaglemon's windpipe, killing him. The monster then landed on the side of the mountain, where Megakabuterimon had gone to rest and degenerate as the attack from the mega level digimon had stunned and wounded him. The rest of the destined were now sprawled about the small region of the mountain side, looking for the three passengers that had disappeared.

"Ugh…" As he landed, Dynasmon grunted and clutched his chest.

"Are you okay?" Matt and Gabumon asked at the same time.

"That digimon just caught me off guard. I'm okay though." Dynasmon replied, returning his arm to his side as if he was okay.

"You should degenerate while you still have some energy left." Gabumon suggested.

"That won't be necessary; I'm fine."

"No you're not." Gabumon growled. "We can't have you getting a serious injury. Degenerate."

"Fine." Dynasmon rolled his eyes. Obviously Garun was higher than Dynasmon on the hierarchical scale of the Royal Knights. Dynasmon complied, let a field of light cover him, and a second later T.K. and Tokomon were standing in front of the two in a daze.

"Woah…" T.K. stumbled a little bit before Matt caught him. "Where am I?"

"You don't remember?" Matt inquired in confusion.

"It's not surprising," Said Tokomon as he shook of the light pain in his chest, "It's a lot of information for him to take in at once, digivolving, he likely won't remember the first or second times he does it." The now enlightened in-training explained. "Well I hope you're happy." Tokomon now directed his attention to Gabumon. "We'll be defenseless if another Dark Master attacks us."

"Well then we'll just have to avoid the Dark Masters for the time being." Gabumon replied.

"We're not going to have that luxury." Eric groaned from lower down the path. The four turned around and slid down the deep slope to where he, Tai, Koichi, Ken, and their partners had congregated. Once there they spotted a peculiar track leading down the mountain. A series of wavy lines split off in two directions.

"What is it?" Matt inquired.

"It looks like the tracks of an Ebemon. It came up here, grabbed our friends, and took off." Ken answered.

"What is an Ebemon?" Matt asked.

"It's a machine digimon; sort of like a cross between an octopus and a dwarf covered in white armor." Wormmon elaborated.

"Kazu had a lot of them under his employment when Spiral Mountain was in existence." Ken continued. "We're going to have to go down into the city and get them back."

"City?" Takeru questioned, but then stopped when he looked down at the massive walled metropolis full of modern day buildings that was in the center of another massive valley. Above the city, built into the tallest mountain, was a purple citadel.

"Not another castle." Eric whined.

***

"Look up there." Keramon pointed past the city up to the citadel. The group had slowly and secretly followed the tracks of Ebemon until they noticed that it curved away from the city and went up the slope to the right. Keramon however was indicating to the small white figure in the distance, holding some obscure human figure, entering the citadel through a side door to the group's right.

"That's a really fast digimon."Koichi murmured.

"How did he get there without going through the city?" Matt inquired.

"Up there." Tokomon nodded to their right. The group then eyed an even path on the side of the valley that overlooked the city. Multiple digimon of an indefinable type could also be seen guarding the path at multiple checkpoints.

"Well this should be easy." Matt replied.

"You okay Tai?" Eric inquired of his friend, noticing the pale expression on Tai's face.

"Yeah, Kari's a brave girl; she can take care of herself." He choked a reply.

"Well don't worry; we're not going to let that happen." Eric replied. "We're going to go over that path, bust into another palace, and get her some backup."

"And how do you expect to do that?" Gabumon inquired. "If even one of those sentries sounds the alarm, JumboGamemon will find and stop us for sure."

"That's why Tentomon and I are going to go down into that city and cause a big enough distraction so you can stroll down that path unopposed."

"We are?" Tentomon gasped horrifically.

"Eric, you're in no shape cause anything," Said Matt, tapping his leg in reference.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine." Eric turned around and started limping down the path towards the front gates. "See you later." Tentomon wavered for a second, and then started following his partner.

"So what, you're not even going to discuss this with us?" Tai called to them.

"Nope," Eric kept walking.

"But what if you…" Tai didn't finish the sentence.

"What, you think I'm marching to my death down here?" Eric turned around but kept walking, successfully, to the surprise of the rest of the group.

"Well yeah."

"Take a chill pill Tai. I've got a good 72 years left and I plan on living every single one of them." Eric then turned around and started back down the path correctly.

"So how do you plan on surviving?" Matt called down.

"Please, like Tentomon isn't a Royal Knight. It's not like it was hard to figure out."

"But what if you're wrong?" Koichi called. Eric just stopped, turned his head towards them, shook his head with a confident look on his face, and then started down the path without saying anything else.

"Isn't he the one who started the whole, don't tell what you're going to evolve into or it won't happen thing?" T.K. questioned.

"This actually might work for him." Ken commented.

"How is that?" Tai asked.

"He does have the crest of wisdom. If he figured it out himself, that might be all Tentomon needs to digivolve to whatever Royal Knight he might be."

***

"So how do you figure I'm a Royal Knight?" Tentomon inquired as the two marched down the mountain in a relaxed fashion.

"Well, let's see," Eric began condescendingly, "Agumon's a Royal Knight, as is Renamon, and Terriermon, and Patamon. Are you seeing a pattern here?"

"All of us that were partnered with the second group of digidestined." Tentomon realized. "It was so simple, why didn't I think of that? What about Salamon though?"

"I have no doubt that in a few minutes some super angel being will fly out of that citadel with Izzy that is Kari-slash-Salamon."

"You're awfully confident."

"Well I have to be. This is getting ridiculous. Everyone is just getting kidnapped over and over and over and over again. If we don't take charge and start making some assumptions sooner or later it's going to take someone trying to throw us in a volcano to induce a Royal Digivolution."

"So what's the plan?"

"We go down there, find JumboGamemon, wait until he has fired some super missile at us that will kill us for sure, and then we'll combine into whatever you evolve into."

"And you're sure that'll work?"

"Nope."

"Excuse me!?"

"We gotta start taking some risks sooner or later. The way I see it we have two options. The first is we can go through some big song and dance, run through the city, tire ourselves out, and maybe digivolve if we happen to get lucky or we can grab the bull by the horns and get something done."

"So we're taking a fifty-fifty chance that we'll either live or die?"

"Well, seventy-thirty really."

"And you're comfortable with that?"

"We can't know everything. Sometimes we just have to take that chance. Do something without knowing whether or not it'll pan out."

"You're such a philanthropist."

"Ooh, big word for you?"

"Shut up." The two suddenly stopped. They were now in front of a ten story double metal door. "How do we get in?" The rookie inquired.

"We knock." Eric replied.

"And if they don't answer?"

"Two digidestined willingly surrendering themselves to whatever badass is on the other side of that door? I think they'll answer." With that, Eric limped to the door and knocked on it as hard as he could. The two stood there for a minute with no response.

"Good plan." Tentomon retorted. The door then opened. It slowly swung inward to reveal a battered, war torn street leading into a huge empty city.

"I think this is the same city where Kazu and Machinedramon were based." Eric commented, recognizing some of the landmarks from his brief period in Kazu's base of operations.

"That's very unoriginal." Tentomon groaned.

"Oh well. At least we know our way around: kind of." Eric shrugged and started limping into the city to the surprise of his partner.

"What are you doing?" Tentomon exclaimed in whisper.

"You're going to want to digivolve; to mega preferably." Eric answered.

"What…?" Tentomon's confusion was increasing.

"Do it quickly." Suddenly, a ten story metallic beetle with a long tail instead of back legs snaked out from behind a building and lunged at the door.

"Craaaap!" Tentomon scrambled to jump in front of Eric. **"Tentomon, warp digivolve to… HerculesKabuterimon!"** HerculesKabuterimon lunged forward and intercepted the new enemy seconds before he could pounce on Eric, throwing him out of the way and into a skyscraper that collapsed onto the metallic insect. HerculesKabuterimon then ducked down so Eric could clamber onto his back. The pair now had a chance to look at their attacker. The monster had huge metal claws and gauntlets with pincers above each palm. Long thorn capped shoulder pieces curved upwards, while his head looked like a cross between a robotic alligator and a shark.

"What is it?" Eric inquired.

"A TyrantKabuterimon; I think."

"One of JumboGamemon's soldiers?"

"Probably a sentry to stop us from bothering JumboGamemon."

"Yay. Kick his ass."

"GRAGH!" TyrantKabuterimon lurched out of the building and pounced on HerculesKabuterimon and tried to throw him into another skyscraper. HerculesKabuterimon slammed his feet into the ground to prevent his back passenger from taking the hit.

"You fool!" The Monster screeched, much to Eric's displeasure. "I am the king of bugs! I command every insect without fail! You will never defeat me!"

"Good luck with that." HerculesKabuterimon then grasped TyrantKabuterimon's arms with his lower set so that his upper arms were free, then grasped TyrantKabuterimon's upper and lower jaws and yanked them open violently. With a screech of metal and a bone crushing crack, the arthropod collapsed onto the ground and slowly began to disintegrate into a mass of data.

"Some king of bugs." Eric shrugged.

"Yep." HerculesKabuterimon began. "So are you sure about this plan? You know the consequences if we lose."

"Believe me, if I wasn't absolutely certain I wouldn't even dream of doing it." Eric replied.

"You're getting down now." Kabuterimon then ripped Eric off of his back and placed him onto the ground with no warning, then jumped away further down the street so that Eric was out of the range of fire.

"BOOM!" A missile fired from behind a skyscraper and collided into HeculesKabuterimon. The beetle flew backwards, into another building, obliterating it and degenerating. Tentomon rolled towards Eric's feet just a few seconds later.

"Ah shit!" Eric scrambled to his partner and dragged him onto his back. "You okay?"

"Ow." Tentomon stated.

"Sorry buddy."

"I'm not liking your plan so far Eric. The only thing that's been accomplished is I got a missile fired into my gut. Had I been a mammal I could have broken a rib."

"Don't worry. The best part's coming up."

"That better not involve more injury on my behalf." Eric shushed his partner and hid behind a fallen piece of concrete from the building that Tentomon had knocked over so he could safely witness the new digimon stomp out of a side alley and into the main street.

"Oh sweet Yggdrasil." Tentomon murmured. The monster that emerged from the alley was massive: a few dozen feet taller than HerculesKabuterimon. It was a giant turtle, with a red shell and deep green legs and arms. He had a red neck and lower jaw and a green upper jaw and head. He also sported a long tail uncharacteristic of most turtles, or tortoises, or whatever reptilian species it was, for in reality it wasn't a reptile at all. It was a machine. In the shape of a turtle, the giant mecha shimmered in the sunlight with red, green, and silver digizoids protecting every inch of its body. This all could have been overlooked, however, if it weren't for the cannons covering almost every inch of its body. There were cannons on its knees. There were six evenly spaced cannons on front and on back of its shell. A large machine gun topped of its tail. There was a long laser replacing the monster's nose. Worst of all were the two missile launchers attached to its arms instead of hands. But it still had hands. Claws were coming out of the bases of each weapon. Tentomon gulped.

"That thing could take out the USS Nimitz." Eric whimpered.

"It's going to eat us." Tentomon whispered.

"I don't think I want to fight that guy."

"We should run."

"Where? He can blow up this whole damn city without even thinking about it."

"I can here you, you know." The monster spoke in their direction in a (relatively) low voice. Apparently he wanted his preys' attention before he killed them.

"We're gonna die…!" Tentomon hissed.

"No we're not." Eric choked down the fear in his voice.

"It's a hundred and fifty feet tall. Yes we are…!"

"No we're not." Eric grabbed his crutches and slowly limped out into the street.

"Damn you…!"

"Well here we go." JumboGamemon laughed to himself. "I can't believe you would be so stupid as to come out and face me by yourself, digidestined." The monster shook his massive head. "Where are the others?"

"Uh… I'm not telling you that." Eric said with a paradoxical blend of confidence and fear.

"Ah, so you've come to sacrifice yourself for the safety of your friends, is that it?"

"Well," Eric shrugged half heartedly, "You know what they say. The needs of the many out way the needs of the one and all that. Some famous philosopher said that I believe: human too if I'm not mistaken."

"You know that famous philosopher is Spock, right?" Tentomon whispered into his partner's ear.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Tentomon sighed.

"Damn, how anti-climatic. I thought it was from John Locke or something. I might as well have said use the force, Luke."

"Silence!" JumboGamemon ordered loudly. It was loud enough to cause extreme discomfort to the two digidestined below him, but fortunately not enough to force them into a painful squirm. "I am about to kill the two of you. Do you care at all?"

"No." Eric shrugged. "Because you're not going to kill us. Tentomon here is a Royal Knight, and he is going to kick the living shit out of you."

"Oh, you really think so?" JumboGamemon laughed. "Well I knew the Royal Knights when they were only megas, and that wimpy little arthropod on your back is as much of a Royal Knight as a Numemon is."

"I'm glad you said that." Eric smiled. Any doubts he could have had about Tentomon were now gone. "You ready Tentomon?"

"Did you hear what he said!?" Tentomon exclaimed.

"You're smarter than that Tentomon, think about it."

"I'm sick of the banter, die!" JumboGamemon rolled his eyes and swerved his arm in front of Eric and Tentomon: then fired.

**R-O-Y-A-L D-I-G-I-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N**

**"Eric!"**

**"Tentomon!"**

**"Royal Digivolve to… Craniamon!"**

The ultimate mega swung a mighty dual broad spear forward and knocked the missile away as if it were a baseball. It spiraled into the air and exploded into the top of a nearby building. Craniamon then bounced into the air to become level with JumboGamemon's face.

"You knew I was going to digivolve," Craniamon said rebelliously. "Why did you bother? Your only accomplishment was wasting your own ammo."

"I guess I was hoping to get lucky." JumboGamemon laughed in his normal voice, a pitch that would have hurt any entity of Craniamon's size had they not been a Royal Knight.

"Well you're not." Craniamon hovered backwards so that he was about 75 feet away from his adversary. "Now I'm just annoyed at the prospect of almost dying." Craniamon, like the other Royal Knights, was a few feet taller than an average sized adult human. He was covered head to toe in deep purple armor, which left no visible joint uncovered. Three large claws were on each of his feet, a multi-colored tapestry hung from his waste and draped down to his knees, and thick bluish gauntlets covered his lower arms. His chest piece was combined with his shoulder pads to resemble some sort of spinning top, with a collar jutting out upwards to protect the knight's head, which was a human skull shaped helmet with two floating red orbs in each of its eye sockets. Thin purple wisps poured out of its ears. His massive, double sized, broad spear was about twice the size of his body; however Craniamon held it effortlessly as if it were a feather.

"Oh, well please forgive me." JumboGamemon laughed. "I didn't mean to instill the idea in you that you _might_ die. You are going to die, it just hasn't happened yet."

"You do realize you're basing your opinion of me off of the battle we had hundreds of years ago when I could only digivolve to HerculesKabuterimon, which is a few thousand power levels below my current state, don't you?"

"And you should realize that in the dark plane I increased my strength a thousand fold as well. Neither of us are what we were before, Terin."

"Yes, except this time I have an even greater power boost than just my level." Craniamon said.

"And what could that possibly be?" JumboGamemon hunched over into an attacking stance.

"The human within me has doubled my strength as well. And together we will obliterate you!"

"Jumbo Crater!" Gamemon ended the conversation and started firing with all of his lesser cannons (all but his arms, tail, and nose) destroying the landscape around them.

"Avalon!" Craniamon commanded it, and a massive 36 sided shield materialized in front of him, clasping onto his left arm gauntlet. He curled up behind it and Gamemon's lasers and missiles bounced off of it as if they were nothing.

"You'll have to do better than that!" Craniamon said defiantly once the missiles stopped.

"I'm just getting started!" The monster announced as he swung both arms in front of him and fired two missiles at Craniamon and his shield.

"Heh," Craniamon didn't move. The two missiles collided with his shield… and did nothing. "Nice try." Craniamon then jumped out from behind his shield and swung his spear outwards. "Shock Wring-!" Before he could complete his attack, however, Gamemon had already started his.

"Jumbo Jetter!" With legs tucked in and arms facing backwards, JumboGamemon was using them to propel himself forward like a rocket towards Craniamon. The Royal Knight had already started the spin for his attack, and the momentum was severely restricting his movement. He didn't have time to jump out of the way, and if he stopped his spin he would take the full force of the attack. His best bet was to continue his spin. It would hurt, yes, but not enough to inhibit him to the point where-

"Fist of Athena!" A pink figure flashed in front of JumboGamemon and fired a series of sonic waves into JumboGamemon's face. The monster, stunned, flipped over and instead of slamming into Craniamon crashed full force into the ground with a vicious earthquake.

"Rhodo, where did you come from?" Craniamon slowed to a stop as Crusadermon hovered up next to him. He allowed his shield to fade away so he could have greater movement.

"I just finished off Phoenixmon." The fellow Royal Knight required.

"Ah. Garun and the others think you've been kidnapped by the Ebemon and taken to that castle over there." Craniamon nodded to the oddly shaped purple manor resting in a nook in the hill above JumboGamemon's city.

"We should warn them otherwise, so they don't walk into an unnecessary situation." Crusadermon replied.

"They do have Koushiro," Craniamon responded, "Our friends still need to rescue him."

"Then perhaps we should go help them." Crusadermon said in an obvious toned voice.

"Yes but first how about you help me take out this piece of garbage?"

"GAH!!!" JumboGamemon lunged upward and swung one of his cannon arms towards Craniamon's upper legs.

"No!" Craniamon slammed his spear downward and embedded it into JumboGamemon's cannon, stopping it from coming up any further. "That region is OFF LIMITS!" Craniamon then threw the monster's arm sideways and started spinning around rapidly. "Shock Wringer!"

"Fist of Athena!" Crusadermon flashed in front of JumboGamemon's face and pulverized him with sonic blasts. As the metal over his skull was getting mangled, Gamemon now had no way to protect himself against the shockwave that was about to fire out of Craniamon's spin. It radiated outwards and severed Gamemon at the stomach. Crusadermon then ceased her attack and flew back to Craniamon's side, who had finished spinning.

"Simple enough." Craniamon shrugged. But JumboGamemon wasn't done. He lunged forward, his top half separating from his bottom as he did so, and smashed his cannon arms into Craniamon and Crusadermon. He dragged them down to the earth; fortunately the two warriors braced themselves and landed on the ground with nothing more than a small shock upon landing.

"You think you have won?" The dying Gamemon groaned. "By killing me, you have ensured my victory. I hope you enjoy your last few minutes of freedom, because when I come back I'm going to enjoy killing you two the most." With that, JumboGamemon's upper body exploded into millions of bits of data. Behind it, his lower legs evaporated as well.

"What did he mean by that?" Craniamon asked with a light fear in his voice.

"I have no idea." Crusadermon replied just as cautiously. Then, a strong vibration passed under their feet through the ground.

"What the hell?" Craniamon tried to jump up, but his feet wouldn't leave the ground.

"Terin!" Craniamon turned to see the ground under Crusadermon rippling, and her feet getting sucked into the earth.

"Rhodo!" Craniamon lunged for her, but found himself being pulled into the street as well.

***

"Metal Wolf Claw!" MetalGarurumon obliterated the Hagurumon who was posted guard at the last post along the hill path. The digidestined now had a clear path to the oddly shaped purple citadel, only a mile or so away. MetalGarurumon, with Tai, Matt, T.K., and Tokomon on his back, then dashed with incredible speed towards the citadel, with Infermon and his riders Koichi, Ken, and Wormmon, right behind him. He wasn't taking anything to chance. Even if Craniamon had digivolved there was no guarantee that he would beat JumboGamemon, although it certainly was a possibility.

The castle certainly was odd. It was long and triangular, with a jumbled stack of sharp triangular shapes forming the main tower. Huge red cornerstones were on the front of the castle. The whole thing was about five times taller than JumboGamemon had been. To the contrary, the door was small and wooden, almost too small for MetalGarurumon to fit into, and it was placed under a large golden bracket with a huge emerald gem inside.

"I don't like this place." Infermon growled as they arrived. "Who builds such a ridiculous building?" Once the group stopped, the Infermon and MetalGarurumon's passengers got down.

"It was probably here before the Dark Masters took root Infermon." MetalGarurumon answered calmly.

"Look out!" Tai warned just in time as a huge six-legged monster, like Infermon but purple and black with a long tail and two demon-like horns (as well as being the size of a large freight train) jumped off of the tower he had been perfectly camouflaged with and attempted to pounce on the group.

"I got him!" Infermon jumped up to face the large creature. **"Infermon digivolve to… Diaboromon!" **The mega demon collided with the other mega demon and the two spiraled off into a fist fight hanging from the tower.

"It's an Armaggedemon," Koichi murmured, "Another evolution of Infermon."

"Go inside! I'll hold him off!" Diaboromon ordered.

"They know we're here," MetalGarurumon growed, "We can't waste any time: let's go!" Tai, Matt, and T.K. (holding Tokomon) then jumped back onto MetalGarurumon's back. Ken struggled to get on but joined them as well.

"Koichi, come on!"Matt called to the last destined, who had remained behind.

"I'll stay with Diaboromon, you guys go on!" Koichi called to them.

"But-"

"No time to argue. Hold on!" MetalGarurumon then blew the door apart and dashed into the building. There was a short hallway followed by a door that was ajar. MetalGarurumon knocked it open and ran inside; ready to blast anything that was waiting for him.

"What the hell is this?" Ken gasped as he slipped off of Garurumon's back. His sentiment was shared by the rest of the group. The now found that the castle only had one room. That room took up all of the castle's inner space, placint them in a massive, 750 foot chamber. On the opposite end of the room was a large 20 foot box where some whirring could be heard. But none of that mattered. The most terrifying thing in the room was what was on the walls. Thousands and thousands of bubbles lined every inch of the chamber except for the box on the opposite end of the room and the floor. Within those bubbles were thousands upon thousands of… digimon. There were Flymon and Apemon, Centarumon and all sorts of Ice attribute digimon. Mummymon took up their own level, and a pair of large birds, one covered in metal and the other a parrot, was plopped next to a huge metallic beetle creature. But the worst part was what was at the top of the room. Four bubbles housed four digimon that the digidestined standing in the center of the room knew all too well. One of them, a large bird, was only recognizable to MetalGarurumon and Tokomon. But the other three were unmistakable to the humans in the room. Somehow, even though the digidestined had killed them, Rosemon, Pharaohmon, and Vikemon now resided in the bubbles as well.

"I don't like the looks of this." MetalGarurumon said nervously.

"What are all these digimon doing here?" Matt inquired. "And why are three Dark Masters that we've already destroyed here as well?"

"Because these are all the digimon that have died on this continent," MetalGarurumon answered unfortunately. "I don't know how they did it, but somehow the Dark Masters managed to develop a system where whenever something dies on Drive, its data and digi-core get reverted to one of the holding cells in this… place instead of File Island."

"Oh, it does so much more than that." A voice spoke from across the room. The group dropped their heads from the Dark Masters to see who had spoken.

"No…" Tai murmured in horror as WarGreymon, now tainted with black and grey coloring instead of his usual yellow and orange, began walking towards them.


	65. The Comedy

Okay, so that whole "finish before the end of November thing" did not pan out. Instead, I'll finish by the first half of December, and then take the second half of December to edit the first 11 chapters for quality and then get rid of those bad Lost references in the middle. I'll start posting Olympians in late January to Early February. Still one chapter and a epilogue left though, stick around.

**Chapter Sixty Five: The Comedy**

"Get down." MetalGarurumon ordered his passengers. Everyone dropped off without a seconds hesitation: except Tai.

"WarGreymon…?" Tai quivered at the sight of his partner.

"Tai, come on!" Matt dragged the stunned digidestined off of MetalGarurumon's back and pulled him into the rest of the group.

"So that's what you wanted Koromon for." MetalGarurumon growled at the creature before him. "I had my suspicions, but I wasn't sure."

"Who else could I have possibly chosen for this purpose except the famous Waro of the Royal Knights?" The digimon before them laughed.

"What's happening?" Tai whimpered.

"That's not WarGreymon." Matt answered.

"Then who is it?" T.K. inquired.

"I don't know."

"It's Parisimon," Tokomon answered for him, "One of the Dark Masters. He's a small, spider-like digimon that attaches itself to a digimon's neck and takes control of them. That's what he is doing to WarGreymon."

"Bastard…" Tai whispered to himself.

"What do you hope to accomplish with this?" MetalGarurumon barked. "Haven't you looked up in a while? Four of your allies are dead. JumboGamemon will join them soon. There's no way you can stop all of us."

"You're misinterpreting a few things Garun," BlackWarGreymon, or rather Parisimon, started. He then walked into the middle of the room. "You assume you know what our plan is, and yet you continuously aid us in what we're trying to do." He then stomped on a panel in the floor, activating a hidden button that activated the floor to his left. A segment of it rose into the air revealing a column holding more imprisonment bubbles.

T.K. gasped. Everyone else suppressed gags. MetalGarurumon continued to stare at Parisimon so he wouldn't have to focus on the sight to his right. Within the bubbles were 13 individuals: Rika, Renamon, Zoe, Betamon, Yolei, Mushroomon, Kazu, Hagurumon, Joe, Gomamon, Izzy, Terriermon… and Leopardmon.

"Ah, and our new arrivals are coming in as we speak." Parisimon smiled as the panel rose higher to reveal some empty bubbles. They then heard a loud sucking noise above them, and looked up to see a huge metal turtle pouring in next to the other Dark Masters. "Poor JumboGamemon, I thought he would last longer than that." As he said this, the rest of the bubbles on the column in the center of the room became filled with six individuals: Eric, Kari, Koichi, Tentomon, Salamon, and Keramon.

"What did you do to them?" MetalGarurumon growled.

"Well I didn't kill (most of) them if that's what you're worried about." Parisimon shrugged. "No, they were merely… absorbed- into the continent and brought here."

"I'm going to kill you." MetalGarurumon was having a harder time keeping from lunging at Parisimon.

"It's interesting that you say that considering the odds are considerably more in my favor now." Said Parisimon. "You now only have two suitable fighters, and you cannot hurt me without hurting one of your own."

"Wormmon, get ready." MetalGarurumon called to the insect on Ken's shoulder, who responded immediately by jumping to MetalGarurumon's side.

"So you choose to fight?"

"Of course we do."

"You will not win."

"We shall see."

"Terra Destroyer!" Parisimon formed a huge dark energy ball in his claws and threw it at MetalGarurumon and Wormmon.

"Metal Wolf Claw!" MetalGarurumon retaliated with an icy blast from his mouth, jumping backwards in the process as the digidestined jumped into the hallway for cover.

**"Wormmon, warp digivolve to… Imperialdramon, Fighter Mode!"**Imperialdramon's digivolution came at a bad time. Parisimon's attack was impeccably strong and once it collided with Imperialdramon he fell down and degenerated immediately.

"Metal Wolf Claw!" MetalGarurumon didn't stop to help his ally. He knew that was already covered. Instead, he blasted at Parisimon to distract the monster, while simultaneously flanking left to try and launch a more successful attack.

"Oof!" Wormmon plummeted through the air, but Ken lunged to catch his partner before any serious injury occurred. "So much for that plan." Wormmon groaned. To their left, MetalGarurumon had been kicked away by Parisimon: his plan ruined.

"Now you're down to one. What do you think is going to happen here Garun?" The parasite laughed through the voice box of Tai's partner.

"In terms of physical strength Parisimon is the weakest of the Dark Masters," Tokomon continued. "But right now he's easily the most deadly. He probably has the strength of an average mega right now, I'd imagine, but combined with WarGreymon he has the strength of two. And since MetalGarurumon is alone now-"

"He's outnumbered." Takeru finished for him.

"There has to be something we can do." Tai said through clenched teeth.

"Not without hurting BlackWarGreymon." Tokomon shook his head.

"What if WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon combined to Omnimon," Matt suggested, "Would that break WarGreymon free?"

"No. Most likely when they Royal digivolved Parisimon would just take control of Omnimon."

"Terra Destroyer!"

"Metal Wolf Claw!" The two digimon threw their attacks at each other but, realizing it was pointless, lunged over the resulting explosion and came at each other for physical attacks. Parisimon jabbed with his clawed gauntlets while MetalGarurumon dodged and tried to bite down on his friend/enemy's wrist. "I don't care how the odds stack up against me," MetalGarurumon flew backwards, out of Parisimon's reach, and said, "I'm not letting you hold my friend hostage- Giga Missile!" MetalGarurumon flipped backwards. In the process, a large missile blasted out of his chest piece and spiraled towards Parisimon.

"Ha!" Parisimon laughed at the weak attack and slashed it away with a swipe of his claws. The missile spiraled a few hundred feet away and blew up harmlessly in mid-air.

"Ice Wolf Bite!" MetalGarurumon knew what he was doing. Once he was a hundred or so feet away from Parisimon, he fired every missile in his system. They spiraled in different directions and re-directed themselves towards Parisimon while he was busy knocking away the earlier attack.

"Damn!" Parisimon pulled his arms and knees together in defense as the missiles rained down on him helplessly.

"No…!" Conflicting emotions caused and stopped Tai from calling out to his partner. "Please don't hurt him…"

"MetalGarurumon has to hurt him a little," Said Tokomon, "If he doesn't than Parisimon will never be defeated."

"Sorry, it's just-"

"We know Tai." Matt said comfortingly. The destined turned their attention back to the battle, as the smoke (or mist rather) cleared and the results of MetalGarurumon's attack became clear. A polygon of ice now covered every inch of Parisimon's body.

"I hope you enjoyed that." MetalGarurumon snarled whilst dropping to the ground and calmly walking over to WarGreymon's isolated body.

"If Parisimon is frozen, he might involuntarily unlatch from WarGreymon's neck." Tokomon speculated. He was wrong. Parisimon exerted all of WarGreymon's strength and broke the ice, sending it out in a wave of sharp shards that tore into the fleshy spots in MetalGarurumon and knocked him out.

"MetalGarurumon!" Matt cried.

"Close the door!" Tokomon commanded. Tai lunged for the door knob above him and slammed the wooden door shut just before the shards ripped into them as well. They covered their ears as a series of frozen blades slammed into the door with a _thwack_ing sound.

"MetalGarurumon I'm coming!" Matt sprang up and smashed the door open once the immediate danger was over.

"Matt wait!" T.K. called, but his brother was already gone. He and Tai scrambled out of the hall after him, while Ken stayed behind with Wormmon.

"Agh!" Tai was intercepted and picked up at the collar by Parisimon, while Matt slid by the knees to the side of his (possibly) mortally wounded partner.

"No…!" T.K. stopped mid-run and turned to face Parisimon, who now had a hostage.

"And just like that, your last hope is gone." He laughed, and then threw Tai off to the side, near the door. He didn't care about having a hostage, he just wanted to gloat.

"We'll find some way to stop you." Matt growled as he picked up Tsunomon and joined his brother's side.

"So foolish," Parisimon sighed, "You just don't appreciate the gravity of your situation, do you?" With that, he snapped his fingers. Matt and T.K. gave each other confused looks for half a second, but soon realized what was happening as the floor below them gave way to a liquid form. Matt slipped from the resulting shockwave and fell onto solid ground, temporarily safe from harm. As T.K. was pulled into the liquid floor, he threw Tokomon towards Matt so he would be safe as well.

"T.K!" Matt set his partner down and lunged to grab his brother's arm before the boy was completely sucked into the floor.

"Matt, help!" Takeru cried just before Matt slid across the floor and slapped his hand around T.K.'s palm.

"Agh…" Tai finished his slide across the floor after Parisimon had tossed him and bumped relatively lightly into the wall next to the hallway exit. He quickly scrambled to his feet, however, and ran into the hallway to get the last remaining digidestined.

"Ken, come on!" Tai yelled to Ken, who was hunched over himself in the hall with Wormmon in his lap. "We need to-!" It was then that he noticed the mortified look that Ken had on his face. "What are you doing?"

"I-I can't." He said through suppressed tears.

"Are you crying?" Tai asked in disbelief. "We do not have the time for that Ken!"

"You don't under-understand," Ken sniffed, "This whole situation is my fault."

"Excuse me?"

"All the things I did when I was evil and ordering the others: it set this whole situation up. If I had just-" Tai interrupted him.

"If you had just what," Tai stomped over to Ken and grabbed him by the collar, then dragging him up the wall, "Not involuntarily been taken over by the dark needle and forced to do the things that you did? You didn't have a choice Ken, don't you realize that?"

"I could have tried harder!" Ken choked. "I had complete control over everything that I was doing, I just didn't care. I should have tried harder to see past what the dark needle was telling me! I could have stopped this; no one would have died!"

"No one has died, not yet; but they will if you throw a pity party for yourself and just give up!"

"Maybe that's just the best thing: if I stay out of it."

"And how helpful will that be in the long run? Tokomon and Tsunomon are too weak to fight anymore, and my partner is the one hurting them. You and Wormmon are our only chance!"

"Wormmon's weak too."

"He still has a lot more energy than the others."

"It doesn't matter. I won't-"

"Just shut up and get over yourself Ken. Now isn't the time to be worrying about whether or not you'd be helpful. Virtually anything you do would be helpful one way or the other. The thing you have to focus on now is you can either be part of the problem and just sit their pouting or you can be part of the solution and help us find a way to get out of this mess. For god's sakes you have the crest of prudence; doesn't that mean anything to you? Your greatest quality is the ability to come up with solutions!"

"You're right." Ken said after a minute of just staring at Tai. "I'm sorry."

"Damn right you're sorry. Now hurry up and help us. If we can't stop Parisimon we're all going to die." With that, Tai released Ken and ran into the main room to help his younger friend, who was at the moment sinking into the floor.

"So what do we do Ken?" Wormmon inquired from his partner's arms.

***

"Ha ha!" Parisimon laughed heartily. "This is fantastic!" As he watched Matt and Tai try to pull T.K. out of the hole, Parisimon smiled triumphantly while walking in half circles a few dozen feet around them. "I hope you enjoy this pointless exercise."

A blast of light knocked the door off of its hinges and right into Parisimon's head. The puppet and puppeteer were knocked backwards but quickly recovered to eye what was standing in the doorway. What he saw didn't please him.

"You're late." Parisimon commented to the entity in the doorway.

"Well, at least I'm here." It replied back. Tai and Matt were too busy to, but Tsunomon and Tokomon gaped as a familiar face entered the grand chamber.

"Paladin," Tsunomon said while smiling. The two were now staring at Imperialdramon, only with three key differences. The first was that he was no longer a 100 foot giant: he was a few feet taller than an average adult human. The second was that he now sported a long and heavy blade propped up by his shoulder in his right hand. The third difference was that instead of his armor being all black, it was a brilliant shining beacon of white light that filled the entire room, forcing everyone to squint. The brightness eventually faded away, but a faint glow remained in his white armor.

"PaladinImperialdramon," Parisimon shook his head, "So all it took for you to evolve was some twelve year old kid to slap you around for a second?"

"It took a lot more than that," Ken-Wormmon-Veemon answered, "But I don't have the time nor the energy required to explain it to you."

"Well then-"

"Positron Laser!" Paladin ignored Parisimon's diatribe and, swinging his left arm forward so that the weapon could materialize on his gauntlet, fired an energy beam at WarGreymon's body, who was able to dodge effectively. What he didn't realize was that Paladin had immediately had the weapon disintegrate and had charged at him with his massive sword.

Parisimon pulled his gauntlet to his chest so that Paladin's sword knocked off of it.

"You should have seen this coming," Paladin shook his head while performing a series of slashing moves at Parisimon, "There was a pattern of events involving Dark Masters attacking digidestined and they evolving to Royal Knights. Why did you even bother?"

'I thought I had a shot." Parisimon shrugged while dodging the attacks.

"No you didn't. I was going to digivolve and you knew it!" Paladin ducked down and tried to slash at Parisimon's ankles. Parisimon jumped up, barely avoiding the attack, and flipped over Paladin in an attempt to strike the knight from behind. Paladin wouldn't have that however. He twirled as well and pulled his sword up to block as Parisimon's foot was about to come into contact.

"T.K., hold on!" Matt wrapped his arms around his brother's shoulders, trying desperately to stop him from being dragged any further into the liquid floor.

"Please don't let go!" T.K. said partially muffled as Tai tried to grab Takeru's feet from the earth and pull him up that way. He could barely latch onto T.K.'s legs, however. Behind them, Tokomon and Tsunomon had joined in and were biting onto Matt's shirt, trying to help him tug Takeru out.

"Agh!" Matt's grip slipped and T.K.'s shoulders popped out of his hold.

"I don't think I can hold on!" Takeru whined as his back slipped further and further into the earth. "Mtt hlp!" His face disappeared under the pool and his hands dropped completely down so that Matt's arms were under as well.

"T.K.!" Matt and Tokomon cried in terror.

**R-O-Y-A-L D-I-G-I-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N**

**"Takeru!"**

**"Tokomon!"**

**"Royal Digivolve to… Dynasmon!"**

Matt, Tsunomon, and Tai jumped back as the liquid evaporated away to reveal a beam of light ejecting out of the floor. A moment later, Dynasmon rushed out of the hole, shattering the sides of the pit as his shoulders knocked against them.

"Crap," Parisimon whispered to himself. He didn't have time to dwell, however. Paladin was busy pummeling him with a close combat combination of kicks and punches.

"Well that did it." Dynasmon cracked his knuckles.

"You have enough energy to stay like that?" Tsunomon inquired.

"I'll be fine for the moment, especially with Paladin here. Sit tight; I'll be right back." Dynasmon then bounded towards the two fighting Royal Knights.

"Ugh!" Parisimon let himself be hit in the chin so that he could separate himself from Paladin while he and Dynasmon regrouped.

"It is good to see you again Paladin." Dynasmon said to his fellow knight upon arrival.

"As I to you Dynasmon." Paladin nodded. "Would you care to help me procure the other half of our lead councilman?"

"It would be my pleasure." Dynasmon answered.

"Two Royal Knights against one?" Parisimon groaned defiantly as he wobbled to his feet. "Well that's not very fair." Parisimon shook off the pain and then snapped his fingers. "Chessmon!" At his call, a pair of monsters stomped out from behind the box-room on the other side of the floor. One of them was short and white, with a gold crown and knight's visor, the spitting image of a King's chess piece in robotic form. The other, tall and black, had flowing dark hair and looked to be the queen. Both were completely covered in their respective armors. "Say hello to King and QueenChessmon. They'll be assisting me for the rest of this battle." Parisimon chuckled whilst jumping backwards and joining his two servant's sides.

"I'll take care of those two." Dynasmon nodded.

"I'll hold off Parisimon until you're done," Paladin responded, "I will need your help in removing him from Waro's neck."

"Right." Dynasmon jumped forward to confront King and QueenChessmon, as they had already started bounding towards him with their scepter weapons drawn. "Breath of Wyvern!" He blasted a strong wind at the two that tore at the floor.

"Tai, Matt, get into the hallway." Paladin indicated to the two boys behind him, who were watching the scene warily. They nodded and quickly (and as silently as possible) darted into the partially concealed entrance.

"You think you can hide them there?" Paladin looked up to see Parisimon had jumped over him and was preparing to pounce. "I'm insulted."

"Huh," Paladin growled and picked up his sword to prepare for the assault. Instead, however, Parisimon just landed a few feet in front of him, gauntlets spread in mock peace.

"You're lucky I could care less about them."

"You're outnumbered." Dynasmon barked. "You're obviously going to lose. What do you want?"

"I want nothing more than for you to get what you've been seeking this whole time." Parisimon shrugged sarcastically.

"And what would that be?"

"Gyah!" Dynasmon was thrown into the wall a few yards behind Paladin with a thud. "They're stronger than they look." He said half-heartedly as he stumbled out of the bubble concealing a Flymon that had broken his fall. As he said this, the two chessmen walked angrily over to him, their scepters over their shoulders as if the two were ready to swing them downwards.

"Positron Laser!" Paladin threw his arm up quickly as his weapon materialized onto it, then blasted the two chessmen at close to point blank range. Parisimon did nothing. The QueenChessmon jumped in front of the KingChessmon in an act of protection, sparing the white soldier's life. The KingChessmon's eyes darted around for a second, and then he dropped his scepter and fled to the box-room on the other side of the chamber. "Really?"

"Well you're obviously stronger than me." The still dazed Dynasmon spoke as he stumbled to the Councilman's side.

"Idiot." Parisomon said in the meanwhile, referring to KingChessmon as he waddled away. "I'll just have to take care of this myself-Gugh!" Paladin rushed forward and punched the dark knight in the gut, forcing him to stumble over. Before Parisimon could recover, Dynasmon flipped to his side, grabbed his arm, and threw him over his head to smash the parasite's face into the ground. "Ow."

"You should have run away while you had the chance." Paladin quickly arrived at Parisimon, whose back was being stood upon by Dynasmon, and reached down to his neck. "This is the end for you." With that, he felt down his ally's armored back until he found what he was looking for. With a tight squeeze, Parisimon, a purple spider with one eye and only an abdomen, unclenched his teeth from WarGreymon's spinal cord and slipped off of the Knight's body. Currently the size of Paladin's palm, when Paladin threw him off to the side he quickly recovered to his non-attached state, about half a Royal Knight's height. He rolled over harmlessly, too weak to continue. Then, WarGreymon's black color disappeared, and a moment later he had degenerated to his in-training state.

"Koromon!" Tai ran out of the hallway and slid over to his wounded partner, embracing the fallen warrior in his arms. "Koromon speak to me!" He shook the blob.

"Tai…" Koromon said in a daze, "Thanks…" Taichi pulled Koromon into a deep hug as Matt walked calmly to the scene holding Tsunomon.

"Go ahead; do it." Parisimon moaned from his immobile position on the floor. "Kill me; just get it over with."

"Do you really think we'd be that stupid?" Dynasmon questioned irritably. "Five fallen Dark Masters are up there, and you want us to help you join them? You think we don't recognize this castle as the shell of Dexmon?"

"Ah." Tsunomon whispered to himself in revelation.

"As soon as we kill you, your power will join the other Dark Masters, and Dexmon will awaken under your control." Paladin growled.

"Who is Dexmon?" Tai inquired.

"A Demigod of sorts," Dynasmon answered, "He feeds on the energy and digi-cores of thousands of digimon, uniting their power under a select few. He's a deadly weapon whose power was only surpassed by the Trinity, who destroyed him. And now one of its members is trying to resurrect Dexmon as an attempt to regain their former power. It's pathetic."

"And still, your visions of my plans are flawed." Parisimon grumbled. "I was hoping that you would be the ones that killed me, so you could have hammered the final nail into your own coffin, but I'm not above dropping the metaphor to get what I want. Piedmon!" He yelled, and a second later Piedmon phased behind his master.

"Shit." Paladin raised his Positron laser to be level with Piedmon.

"Piedmon, I'm the last one left." He coughed. "You're stronger than me, fortunately. You know what to do." Piedmon nodded, then slipped out his sword.

"Don't do it!" Paladin ordered directing his former leader's attention to his weapon. "You won't survive an attack from me; I'm too powerful combined with Ken."

"I won't need to." Piedmon smiled, then dropped his arms downwards.

"Positron Laser!" Paladin fired his laser at Piedmon's gut, shattering the lower half of his sword and drilling a hole through Seraphim's stomach.

"It's not… enough… traitor…" Piedmon gasped with his last breath, and then fell down on top of Parisimon. The lower half of his sword plunged into Parisimon's back, and and Parisimon squeeled with his last dying breath.

"No!" Paladin gaped as the two monsters faded away.

"This won't be good." Tsunomon commented.

"We have to get out of here." Dynasmon spoke. "Dexmon will awaken any minute."

"What about the others?" Tai nodded to the group of digidestined suspended in the center of the room.

"We can still save them but right now we have to get out of here before Dexmon starts to re-animate." As he said it, a bolt of lightning cut across behind him between two of the suspended bodies.

"Move!" Paladin ordered while sliding his massive sword onto its back holster. He then lunged forward and grabbed Tai/Koromon, flying out of the chamber and into the hallway as quickly as possible. Dynasmon was right behind him with Matt/Tsunomon under his wing. It didn't take a lot of effort to escape the building, and they were easily able to surface well above the citadel before a field of digital… something or other began to fill in Dexmon's innards. The tower began to separate and unfolded into his arms, chest piece, and head. A 750 foot monster now stood before them.

"Can we defeat him?" Tai inquired.

"Dexmon draws the main source of his power from pure evil." Paladin answered. They had hovered away from Dexmon and onto a small cliff on the mountain towering above him. "Since the majority of those within Dexmon are not, he will be considerably weaker then he should be."

"That's not the problem though." Dynasmon interjected as he and Paladin set the boys down.

"Then what is?" Matt inquired.

"We could probably destroy Dexmon pretty easily," Paladin answered, "But if we did, we would have to do it in a way that would remove our friends from him. Removing the good influence would turn Dexmon pure evil, unleashing something far worse than that." Paladin nodded to the monster below.

"What could be worse than him?"

"Apocalymon." Koromon answered weakly.

"What?" Tai exclaimed.

"With Dexmon uniting their energies, it will be simple enough for the Dark Masters to combine to their original form of Apocalymon." Paladin explained.

"Begging the question: is it worth it?" Tsunomon asked.

"Of course it's worth it!" Tai yelled.

"Our friends are in there!" Matt added.

"We know," Dynasmon sighed, "And we want to save them just as much as you do, but the consequences could be too-"

"No." Matt said. "The consequences of not saving them are even greater." He stared intently at Dynasmon and Paladin. Nobody spoke for a few moments.

"My sister is in there." Tai pleaded.

"Then I guess we'll deal with the repercussions of our actions soon enough." Paladin unsheathed his sword and dropped the tip down with a thud.

"There was no other way Paladin," Koromon spoke, "Sooner or later we had to face Apocalymon. There's no getting around it."

"Parisimon was expecting this," Said Dynasmon, "He knows we won't be able to stop ourselves from saving our friends and unleashing his true form. He will be very smug when we see them again."

"Oh well." Paladin sighed. And with that, Dynasmon and PaladinImperialdramon jumped down off of the cliff and destroyed Dexmon.


	66. Piedmon's Absolution and Epilogue

**Chapter Sixty Six: Piedmon's Absolution**

**The Digital World, Hundreds of Years Ago**

Piedmon sat in his throne. He had it imported from an exotic island in the Algorithm Ocean. The wood was strange, with a sweet smell wafting from it, yet soft enough without the use of water to warrant comfort. He drummed his fingers along the arm. He did this often. The soft wood held a record of that. Tiny indentions in the tip of the arm lay evidence to that. Once a month he had to massage various dents out of the throne. Well, Piedmon didn't. His servants did. But that didn't matter. The councilmen had requested his presence. Nowadays, he never really responded to the whines and issues the other Knights brought up at the weekly meetings, but they seemed rather urgent. His concerns were larger than that. He needed a better chair.

A knock on the double doors signaled the arrival of the councilmen.

"Come in." Piedmon moaned. The doors were pushed open, and five individuals entered. One was a white armored knight with two gauntlets of different shapes on each arm: one a wolf and the other a dinosaur. The next was a woman, dressed in light clothing with flowing white hair and a yellow fox mask concealing her face. Another white knight was at her side, this one more proportional. His blue dragon skin contrasted in the patches where it was visible, and a golden crown built into his armor signified some sort of importance. The next brought up the rear, and was not even a human knight at all. He was a red dragon, slightly larger than the others, with huge red and silver wings neatly folded into his back. His long tail was wrapped around his waist like a belt and some sort of retracted weapon attached to his right arm was tucked under his left. One final warrior led them all. He was dressed in black and gold armor, and had a long blue and white cape.

"Seraphim," The leader nodded respectfully.

"Omega, Saka, Paladin, Examon… Alpha: what a pleasant surprise." Piedmon said facetiously. "Would you care to explain to me what is so important?"

"There's no easy way to say this Seraphim," Alphamon sighed, "So we'll just come right out with it. The Royal Knights are concerned that since your, evolution, you may have become corrupt."

"I beg your pardon?" Piedmon stood up quickly and walked to the middle of the room a dozen or so feet away from the councilmen.

"You heard me Seraphim," Alphamon snapped back, "Your actions over the last year have been vicious and manipulative at best. What happened to you after that battle with Myotismon?"

"You dare have the audacity to question my methods!" Piedmon lashed out.

"The rest of the knights have spoken my friend," Omnimon added, "Until you can justify your actions to the rest of us we have no choice but to displace you as leader of the Royal Knights."

"Do you really want to do this?" Piedmon growled.

"I'm afraid we have no other choice, my friend." Alphamon sighed.

"Very well." Piedmon said with no intentions of going quietly.

**The Digital World, Now**

They lay there for a week, maybe more. It didn't really matter. Somehow they stayed alive. Dynasmon and Paladin had destroyed Dexmon after a lengthy and unnecessarily described battle. They procured all of the Digidestined and Leopardmon and arrived at the cliff where Matt and Tai resided just before Dexmon exploded, knocking the lot of them out. The world tore apart around them. But they were together. They were alive.

"Ow…" Eric sat upright and gripped the side of his head, a massive headache pounding his skull. "What just happened?"

"We kicked JumboGamemon's giant metal butt that's what," Tentomon groaned at his side, "Us and Rhodo."

"Who?" Eric groaned.

"Crusadermon," Tentomon answered, "Royal Knight: Salamon and Kari."

"Oh." Eric fell back asleep. Tai woke up later.

"Did we win?" Tai asked no one in particular as he sat up against a rock. "Oh my…" He looked around at his surroundings and almost fainted again. The cliff that they were all on was about the only solid object left in the digital world. It was sitting obscurely on the outskirts of the atmosphere. The digital world was now a googolplex of pieces of data scrambling around a central point, where the cries of a monster could be heard. Deep space was the only other scenery.

"Oh, this looks like a problem." Agumon slowly rose to his feet and stumbled over again.

"Could be worse," Elecmon woke up and added.

"How is that?" Eric inquired as he and Tentomon woke up again.

"That could be us in there."

"Instead of Apocalymon? Yeah, he's a real improvement." Renamon retorted. After her comment everyone else groggily began to wake up. They greeted each other with different levels of excitement for different people, and then returned to the conversation at hand.

"I meant the data Saka," Elecmon gave her a dirty look.

"So what are we going to do: now that Apocalymon is awake?" Ken inquired.

"What? Why?" Eric groaned. "What did you people do while we were out?"

"The usual," Ken groaned, "We kicked the bad guy's but and then he became even more powerful than he was before."

"Is that all?" Izzy added sarcastically.

"Seriously," Matt continued, "Apocalymon is in there, he's pissed, he's more powerful than all of us combined, and he's got three doses of revenge to dish out on us."

"Where did you get an arbitrary number like three?"

"Well that's just awful." Yolei sighed. "What do we do?"

"We fight him." Tai answered. "Or them. Or whatever the hell Apocalymon refers to him/her/itself/themselves as."

"But that's suicide." Kazu complained.

"Maybe. But we can't just sit around and wait for the situation to get better. Either we beat him now or everything that we've done since we arrived in the digital world has been for nothing."

"Is it possible that we could win?" Kari inquired.

"It's not a question of "if" Kari." Tai continued. "All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing."

"That's a beautiful quote Tai but you're forgetting that Susanoomon and Chronomon were much more powerful than any of the Royal Knights and even they couldn't beat him. The 12 Olympians had to sacrifice themselves just to destroy him." Eric replied.

"We have more than the Royal Knights Eric," Tai responded, "We have the entire support of the digital world behind us." An object floating in front of him then caught his attention. Tai turned to see his digivice floating through the air parallel to their rock. He grabbed the digivice in a quick and dramatic motion. "And we have a little bit of luck on our side as well."

"We're not just the Royal Knights are we though?" Renamon asked rhetorically. "We also have you." She indicated to the humans.

"With your power combined with ours, we definitely have the power to make a tremendous difference from the last time; maybe even win." Terriermon joined in.

"Then we'll all do this, together," Said Agumon, "Royal Knights and Digidestined: humans and Digimon."

"Is everyone ready?" Gabumon asked. They all nodded.

"**Mushroomon, warp digivolve to… Puppetmon!"**

"**Betamon, warp digivolve to… MetalSeadramon!"**

"**Hagurumon, warp digivolve to… HiAndromon!"**

"**Keramon, warp digivolve to… Diaboromon!"**

"**Gomamon, warp digivolve to… Zudomon!"**

"Our turn." Patamon smiled.

**R-O-Y-A-L D-I-G-I-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N**

"**Elecmon, Royal Digivolve to… Leopardmon!"**

"**Rika!"**

"**Renamon!"**

"**Royal Digivolve to… KabukiSakuyamon!"**

"**Izzy!"**

"**Terriermon!"**

"**Royal Digivolve to… GoldenRapidmon!"**

"**Takeru!"**

"**Patamon!"**

"**Royal Digivolve to… Dynasmon!"**

"**Kari!"**

"**Salamon!"**

"**Royal Digivolve to… Crusadermon!"**

"**Eric!"**

"**Tentomon!"**

"**Royal Digivolve to… Craniamon!"**

"**Ken!"**

"**Wormmon!" "Veemon!"**

"**Royal Digivolve to… PaladinImperialdramon!"**

"**Tai!"**

"**Matt!"**

"**Agumon!"**

"**Gabumon!"**

"**Royal Digivolve to… Omnimon!"**

"You should ride on me guys." Zudomon said to the remaining humans. The situation didn't need to be discussed any more. They clambered onto Joe's partner's back.

"We're missing a few people," Said Saka, "Gallantmon, Ulforce, Magnamon, none of them are with us. Are we still going to be able to do this?"

"We went to all the effort of digivolving, we might as well." Leopardmon replied.

"Let's do this." Omnimon extended his sword, and they were off. In the middle of space, the rock they were on was the only thing with any gravity, so they had no problem flying through the air. The humans were a little concerned about the air and lack thereof, but that issue seemed to have resolved itself so they put it behind them. They hovered their way over to the massive sphere of rotating data, which only took a few minutes, and then stopped to discuss their next obstacle.

"Councilman Paladin, would you like to do the honors?" Saka inquired in reference to making a pathway through.

"Why thank you councilwoman Saka." Paladin smiled. He hadn't had a conversation with his fellow knights for a very long time. "I think I will." He unsheathed his sword and made two huge slashes in the data, disrupting the flow in that region. It tore one large hole that was just big enough for everyone to fit through.

"And so we go." Omnimon dived into the sphere first, and the others followed suit.

"GRAAAHHH!" Apocalymon gripped his head in agony, a seething pain pulsing through it. He was a dark blue, humanoid warrior, with long fingers with long red nails. He wore a black helmet that looked like a smooth raven skull, and had a black and red cape with a huge collar that pointed far beyond his face. His legs were nothing more than strands of fleshy tubes attached to a metal base. But that was nothing. His real girth was about 10 times bigger than HerculesKabuterimon and his kin. A huge hexagonal steal polygon, 1000 feet wide and tall, held nine golden panels. One was at the top, and that was where Apocalymon resided. The other was at the bottom, and was a pyramidal point. The other seven concealed chain arms with claws like those seen on Machinedramon, Gigadramon, and Megadramon.

Alas, his pain. For many years now, Apocalymon had been six different entities: Parisimon, JumboGamemon, Phoenixmon, Pharaohmon, Vikemon, and Rosemon. Now, they were one again, and it was giving him a headache.

"Piedmon!" The master level digimon exclaimed. Immediately, Piedmon faded into view before him.

"What seems to be the problem Lord Apocalymon?" Piedmon asked a little condescendingly.

"We are having trouble readjusting," He said through grinding teeth, "The digidestined will be here soon. Hold them off while I recompose myself."

"Of course," Piedmon bowed respectively, "Nothing would give me more pleasure." He then faded away. He reemerged closer to the barrier of Apocalymon's temporary sanctum, sensing where his brethren were on the other side. "If I don't have some land or something to control at the end of this I'll be severely pissed." He spoke while staring at the countless pieces of data flowing before him.

Two slashes in the sphere suddenly cut through and disturbed the flow of data in that region.

"Of course, it is not like I could do anything about that." The slashes flapped open, and a string of individuals, 13 to be exact, flew through.

"What a surprise." Omnimon said sarcastically at the sight of Piedmon.

"You were expecting me?" Piedmon laughed in the same manner. "I'm flattered."

"Are you really going to try to stop us from getting to Apocalymon?" Saka asked skeptically.

"I figured I might give it a shot." Piedmon answered defiantly.

"Always a liar, aren't you?" Omnimon growled.

"Let's just cut to the chase, shall we?" Piedmon unsheathed a sword.

"Fine then," Omnimon answered, "Wait here." He told the others. They nodded, and Omnimon lunged forward.

"Trump Sword!" With a flick of his wrist, the other three swords sheathed on his back slipped out of their casings and jetted towards Omnimon quickly. Omnimon wind milled his sword arm in front of him, knocking the blades away easily. He then quickened forward with his arm drawn backwards. He stopped short in front of Piedmon and thrust his arm forward. Piedmon hopped backwards to dodge and then swung his foot at Omnimon's side. Omnimon blocked with his arm, then punched at Piedmon with his Garuru arm. Piedmon caught it; then he swung Omnimon away. Omnimon, with little surfaces or friction to aid him, flew rapidly through the air, barely screeching to a halt before crashing into the data field.

The swords returned to Piedmon's sheaths.

Omnimon barely had time to react before Piedmon was on top of him, punching and kicking with rapid fury. Omnimon roll-dodged and then flipped around Piedmon, kicking him in the back. Then Omnimon got a result he had not expected; Piedmon flew into the digital field, and disappeared.

"Did I kill him?" Omnimon asked with wide eyes.

He hadn't.

Piedmon's arm lunged out of the inner side of the sphere (a few feet from its original position) and grabbed Omnimon by the collar, dragging him into the field with him.

"Ugh!" Omnimon rolled into what he saw as a pitch-white room, with no distinguishable figures whatsoever. He quickly recovered from his fall and hovered into a defensive position. It was unnecessary, however, as Piedmon was floating near where they had entered.

"It looks like we have our own private fighting area." Piedmon chuckled as he drifted away from the exit, rapidly making its location more difficult to ascertain. "Shall we-UGH!" Omnimon rushed forward immediately and punched Piedmon in the gut. "Ow!" He complained obviously. Omnimon wasn't paying attention, however. He swung his leg up and kicked at Piedmon's head. The clown barely dodged and then pushed his heel into Omnimon's gut. Omnimon fell backwards, but not without a response.

"Supreme Cannon!" With Garuru arm extended, Omnimon blasted a deadly blow at Piedmon, who had little recourse but to curl into a defensive ball. The energy blast wounded his side and threw him back far. "I'm done with this." Omnimon then extended his blade (and retracted his cannon) and rushed at Piedmonn. The clown flipped away, and suffered a cut on his frilly pants. Piedmon then handstand kicked at Omnimon whilst spinning for multiple strikes. Omnimon balled away and then extended his Garuru arm once again.

"Clown Trick!" A cloth slipped out of Piedmon's sleeve as he flipped upright, and then tossed the form altering device at Omega.

"Supreme Cannon!" The blast could do little more than obliterate the rapidly grown cloth, but it spared Omnimon. He then had the chance to strike again. "Nova Blast!" From the tip of his sword, a great fireball jettisoned towards Piedmon.

"Trump Sword!" Piedmon crossed all four swords in front of his body to defend from the attack. He then directed the blades to slice at Omnimon, who knocked each one away with his gauntlets. The swords corrected themselves and dove again for Omnimon, who this time crushed two of the blades and kicked away the other two.

"Crap." Piedmon barked.

"That must be disconcerting for you." Omnimon mocked his former leader.

"Oh shut up." Piedmon rolled his eyes as he returned the two remaining blades to his palms.

"Are you proud of what you've accomplished right now?" Omnimon taunted. "You're trapped in here with half your weapons gone and completely at the mercy of someone you've wronged on multiple occasions. As usual you seem to have made a critical error."

"And as usual you seem to misinterpret the intentions of your enemy Omega." Piedmon smiled wickedly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Omnimon growled.

"It means while we're trapped in here, locked in our _epic _battle, your friends are desperately trying to figure out how to free you, while Apocalymon has the chance to recover from the headaches he has been suffering from six minds recombining."

"Damn." Omnimon said after a few moments.

"If it makes you feel any better I didn't plan this, it was just a really fortunate happenstance."

"Have I ever told you how annoying you are?" Omnimon asked rhetorically.

"Yes, quite a few times if I'm not mistaken." Piedmon answered anyway.

"Supreme Cannon!" Omnimon shot at Piedmon unsuccessfully.

"Crimson Lightning!" Piedmon shot at Omnimon unsuccessfully.

"Ice Wolf Bite!"

"Clown Trick!"

"Transcendent Sword!"

"Touch of Evil!"

A few short minutes later, neither of them had made any progress.

"Is this how you want to continue Piedmon," Omnimon groaned after a while, "Both of us hitting each other with sticks to no avail?"

"Whatever keeps you here." Piedmon breathed heavily.

"You disgust me," Omnimon growled, "The way you constantly betray us time and time again with no remorse for your actions."

"The feeling is mutual _Omega_." Piedmon same with the same irritation.

"What's that?" Omnimon asked in shock.

"You think I sided with Apocalymon because I wanted to betray you?" For once, Piedmon dropped his guard. "I did it because you betrayed me, by isolating me from the group and then killing me!"

"We had no intentions to kill you Piedmon!" Omnimon lashed back. "You were the one that had to make a fight out of it!"

"Agh!" Piedmon lunged forward with his blades drawn and dropped them down on Omnimon. His former ally responded by extending his Grey Sword and blocking. Piedmon persisted in pushing against Omnimon, however, their faces right in each other. "Do you know how horrid it was when you walked into my chamber? My friends of hundreds of years betrayed me just because I came back a little different and couldn't handle it!"

"Urgh!" Omnimon pushed back with his sword and jumped forward to attempt to strike at Piedmon's head. Piedmon knocked it away with his two rapiers and skidded to a defensive stance. "We deposed you because you were becoming a tyrant and none of us wanted an unnecessary revolution!"

"A tyrant?" Piedmon was outraged. "The digital world was a mess after the war; I had to crack down or we would have fallen into chaos." He re-sheathed his swords and lunged at Omnimon with a balled fist. Omnimon punched Piedmon away and then rushed at him with his gauntlets poised for pummeling.

"You neglected to consult with us! You didn't take into consideration what your policies were doing to the digimon! You taxed like you were the medieval Catholic Church, and then you rewarded those who squashed any resistance! Behind our backs! Your system wasn't preventing chaos, it was causing it!" Omnimon screamed.

Piedmon dropped down and shoved his foot into Omnimon's gut. The ultimate mega then flew over Piedmon and stumbled over a few yards away. "Maybe I was a bit of a tyrant then," Piedmon stood up and brushed himself off, "But my tyranny would have been vastly better than any social disorder that would have occurred had I done nothing."

"The digimon were ready to rebuild, voluntarily. But they needed a leader to unite them, not control them." Omnimon stood up.

"The digimon weren't prepared to do anything. They _can't_ do anything without proper guidance."

"The Seraphim I knew would never have subscribed to such garbage."

"Well that's the problem Omega," Piedmon turned his head, "I'm not the Seraphim you knew. He was lost when Myotismon fought and killed him. But he sacrificed himself to create me, someone he thought could take his place. But he was obviously wrong." He turned back to Omnimon, who had disappeared. "Guh!" Omnimon appeared above him and kicked Piedmon in the head, knocking him down. Piedmon was too stunned to react.

"We removed you temporarily so we could have a rational discussion about your activities. We did not betray you, you betrayed us."

"You forced me out of my office with weapons drawn," Piedmon breathed as he began to stand up, "How was I supposed to interpret that." Omnimon, who had been walking away, turned around and punched Piedmon in the face. The former leader fell to the ground, too weak to continue. "Go ahead, finish it."

"You think I'm that stupid?" Omnimon tapped his head. "The gate out of the Dark Plane is gone. I'm not even sure if the plane exists anymore. I kill you, and then you take over my body? Fat chance. And the weapons were there, but not drawn. If that's the way you interpreted it, then I'm sorry. But that was your choice to view the disposition as a volatile act, and your decision alone." Omnimon began to walk away again.

"You won't even give me the dignity of a quick death," Piedmon sighed, "Betraying me again." At this Omnimon twirled around and stared at him with absolute hatred. "I wasn't going to take over you Omnimon; there'd be no point. I'd just have to go through this all over again, and most likely you'd have the consciousness to do the same thing that Seraphim did and combine our consciouses." Omnimon stomped over to Piedmon and kicked him in the side.

"You know what the worst part about this is?" Omnimon asked angrily. "I could forgive you, for everything. You haven't actually caused any irreversible damage, aside from bringing Apocalymon back. No one's worse for wear than they were before the dark beacon. But there would be no point, because you're so wrapped up in your self-righteous revenge crusade that you'd fail to see that we're still your friends. Do you think we enjoyed removing you Piedmon? Do you think I've enjoyed the three times that I killed you?"

"Well I didn't think it put a smile on your face but…" Piedmon struggled to laugh.

"You know what, I am sorry. I'm sorry we removed you, I'm sorry we killed you. You were my friend and that was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. But you left us no choice. You're just as responsible for the past as we are, and maybe you should think about that next time you decide to make a statement." Omnimon started walking away, towards the invisible exit. "Goodbye Piedmon; have a nice life." Omnimon lunged through the hole and disappeared.

Piedmon lay there.

Omnimon exited the bubble in the data field's structure and immediately noticed that he was much farther away from the entrance they had made. The bubble must have been flowing with the rest of the field. Fortunately he hadn't gone too far. Omnimon looked on to see KabukiSakuyamon shooting fire foxes at large segments of the wall in order to find the hole.

"Saka!" He called to her. The Royal Knight immediately stopped her assault as Omnimon flew towards her.

"Omega, are you alright?" She asked her comrade upon his return.

"Yes I'm fine." Omnimon answered obliviously.

"What happened to Piedmon?" She inquired.

"I left him in that hiccup. We'll deal with him later."

"Of course." Saka nodded. The two then returned to the rest of the group (minus Craniamon, Dynasmon, and Paladin, who were searching for him as well). Once the others had returned, the digidestined continued on towards Apocalymon.

"So you just left Piedmon alive?" Yolei inquired Omnimon.

"If he combined with me, we'd be much worse off. We need everyone possible to defeat Apocalymon."

"Where do you think Apocalymon is in here?" Crusadermon inquired.

"I'd bet the center, ego maniac that he is." Paladin added.

"Then the center's where we'll go." Said Omnimon.

He recovered. The six digimon had successfully merged their minds. Now what once was many was now one: a legion. Apocalymon was whole.

"Where is Piedmon already?" Apocalymon whispered to himself.

"He won't be joining you." A voice said from behind spoke. Apocalymon's panel turned around so he could see who had spoken. Omnimon and the rest of the digidestined now hovered behind him.

"Omnimon, Paladin, the rest of you: are you proud of yourselves?" Apocalymon laughed.

"We did what we had to do." PaladinImperialdramon answered.

"I'm sure you did." Apocalymon smiled as he hovered to a position above them.

"Can we cut to the chase?" Omnimon asked.

"Very well," Apocalymon answered with an annoyingly smug smile on his face.

"Apocalymon, are you going to continue the actions that forced Susanoomon and Chronomon to turn against you?" Saka asked officially.

"I wouldn't dream of anything less."

"Very well then," Saka answered, "then we have no choice but to destroy you."

"You can try." He glared happily.

"Supreme Cannon!" Omnimon shot a usually deadly blast at Apocalymon, who responded by swinging his one of his claws upwards and blocking the shot. It had no effect.

"Aussterben!" Leopardmon slashed his sword, creating an electric shockwave that struck at Apocalymon. Another claw blocked this blast as well.

"My turn…" Apocalymon whispered, and then one of his claws slithered through the Royal Knights extraordinarily fast and stung at Leopardmon.

"GRAH!" Leopardmon immediately doubled over in pain, even though contact with the claw lasted for half a second, and began to fall through the air. Diaboromon lunged to catch him.

"What the hell was that?" Joe gasped.

"Each of Apocalymon's arms represents one of the deadly sins of humanity, all with corresponding effects." Crusadermon, who was closest, answered.

"That one is Belphegor, of sloth. It drains a digimon's energy extremely fast: ironic, no?" Dynasmon added. As he spoke, another one of Apocalymon's arms swung towards him.

"Look out!" Zoe warned. Dynasmon turned just in time to give him the reaction time needed to flip over the claw heading towards him.

"Asmodeus, lust: clouds a digimon's head with detrimental hallucinations." Crusadermon explained.

"We can't be exposed like this; split up." Paladin ordered. Everyone complied. Zudomon flew back to safety while the rest of the digidestined/knights surrounded Apocalymon in a loosely knit sphere.

"Oh, whatever will I do?" Apocalymon said sarcastically.

"Everyone attack together!" Omnimon ordered.

"Positron Laser!"

"Spirit Strike!"

"Breath of Wyvern!"

"Fist of Athena!"

"Shock Wringer!"

"Tri-Beam!"

"Puppet Pummel!"

"River of Power!"

"Atomic Ray!"

"Web Wrecker!"

"Thor's Hammer!"

"Aussterben!"

"Supreme Cannon!" 13 attacks shot at Apocalymon from all sides. The master had nowhere to go: because he didn't need to. Each attack bounced off of his polyhedron body, fading away in a wisp of harmless smoke. "No, it didn't do anything." Omnimon said with wide eyes.

"Even with the power of the humans with us it's still not enough." Saka cried in revelation.

"Yes, you all are screwed!" Apocalymon laughed, and then his seven arms lashed out in seven directions. The digimon dodged, but it was not enough. Dynasmon, Crusadermon, GoldenRapidmon, Puppetmon, MetalSeadramon, HiAndromon, and Diaboromon were all knocked out.

"No…" Omnimon whispered to himself at the sight of his fallen comrades.

"Any other great ideas?" Apocalymon laughed as he did the first decent thing of the day and threw all of the fainted digimon in an invisible corner together.

"Our entire plan has been ruined Omega," Saka said sorrowfully as she, he, Paladin, Craniamon, and the partially wounded Leopardmon regrouped in front of (and between Apocalymon and them) Zudomon and his passengers, "What are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know." Omnimon replied with the greatest fear in his eyes the other knights had ever seen.

"That's because there is nothing you can do." Apocalymon answered for him, "My powers are un-stoppable. You should never have let me re-combine, for now you will all die!" The satisfaction on Apocalymon's face was immense. "Crimson Flame!" A long flamethrower began to fire from all seven of Apocalymon's claws, spiraling towards the digidestined who now could not move because of Zudomon's precious cargo behind them. Fortunately, the situation didn't escalate, for a red and white figure faded into view in between Apocalymon and the digidestined, forcing Apocalymon to cease his attack.

"Piedmon…?" Omnimon whispered in confusion. The other Knights did as well.

"Piedmon, what the hell are you doing?" Apocalymon grilled his servant. Piedmon didn't answer. He was just floating there, staring to the right of the Royal Knights and not at them or Apocalymon.

"I didn't think you'd have any energy left after our battle." Omnimon glared at Piedmon with confusion and anger.

"Shut up." Piedmon complained.

"Piedmon, would you care to tell me what you are doing?" Apocalymon cocked his head. "I mean, I don't mind moving but I have a lot more girth than you and I'd rather not have to deal with the inconvenience."

"Dear Yggdrasil you listened to me." Omnimon gasped.

"I said shut up." Piedmon said more irritated than angry.

"What is going on here?" Both Saka and Apocalymon whispered.

"A lot of this could have been avoided if we had talked beforehand." Piedmon spoke in the general direction of the Royal Knights.

"I agree." A hint of a smile popped into the corner of Omnimon's mouth.

"Admit that you were too rash when you dragged me out of my chamber." Piedmon turned to Omnimon.

"No!" Omnimon was offended.

"You created a situation that made me think I had no other choice Omnimon." Piedmon demanded.

"Okay, I'll concede that." Omnimon answered.

"I still don't agree with you, not by a long shot." He hovered over to the Knights' position.

"At least we still have something in common." Omnimon answered. "I don't agree with you either."

"Oh Yggdrasil…" Paladin realized what was going on.

"Oh shit." Apocalymon realized as well.

"Am I hearing this correctly?" GoldenRapidmon flashed before the group. Apocalymon was too stunned to react as the rest of the digimon woke up and rushed over to the main group. Zudomon migrated to the others as well.

"Yes you are," Craniamon gaped, "Piedmon's absolving himself."

"We all are," Omnimon added, "We've all contributed to the situation at hand: some more than others, but in the end we're all responsible."

"I don't give a damn whoever's at fault as long as we keep this situation going." Dynasmon said with glee.

"This is messed up." Apocalymon's face dropped.

"Then are we all okay with this?" Omnimon asked everybody.

"I couldn't imagine many reasons why not." Crusadermon spoke for everyone as they all nodded.

"Good." Omnimon extended his hand. Piedmon grasped his palm firmly.

"I'm not happy about this: not one bit." Piedmon said through grinding teeth.

"None of us are too thrilled, but it's for the best, and you know it." Omnimon smiled.

"I hate you." Piedmon growled.

"I hate you too buddy." Omnimon laughed.

"No!" Apocalymon groaned. "This is completely unnecessary! After everything they… and you… what the…"

"Apocalymon has another accomplice," Said Piedmon, "One who created the Dark Beacon and manipulate the digital world a few times, to create that mountain and to open the portals from the Dark Plane."

"We'll deal with that later." Said Omnimon. "Now let's kill him please."

"Why? Couldn't you do that without my help anyway?" Piedmon gave the faintest hint of a smile.

"Funny." Omnimon answered. "Transcendent Sword!"

"Spirit Strike!"

"Positron Laser!"

"Final Spell!" With palms together, Piedmon fired a sonic blast at Apocalymon.

Apocalymon blocked with three claws, but the combined efforts of four councilmen was finally enough to crack one of his arms, Satan.

"GAH!" Apocalymon yanked his arm back in fury. "Damn you!"

"No how about damn you- Supreme Cannon!" Omnimon fired at Apocalymon.

"Crimson Fire!" From six positions fire began to overcome the digidestined.

"Miracle Missile!" GoldenRapidmon joined in on the assault.

"Web Wrecker!" As did Diaboromon. Matter of fact, everyone fired back at Apocalymon.

"Concentrate your fire!" Omnimon ordered. Everyone did. They focused their shots on one position, and their combined energies ripped through the fire, killing it, and rocketed towards one spot on Apocalymon. He wasn't fast enough to dodge. The combined attacks of fourteen digimon slammed into Apocalymon's polyhedron and cracked it.

Apocalymon flailed around in pain.

"Look at that; all we needed was one more Knight to make this thing work." Omnimon chuckled. Unfortunately, the digidestined's victory shrouded the fact that Apocalymon's flailing was actually a ruse to strike at the closest one.

Belphegor slung through the air and snapped onto Piedmon's waist."Agh…" Piedmon winced. He was already weak from his fight with Omnimon. But Belphegor wasn't draining his power. It was squeezing. Apocalymon wasn't playing around.

"You talk about betrayal like you're so righteous and then you commit it right before me. If you want to return to your old alliances so badly then you can be the first to join them: in hell!"

"No! Seraphim!" Omnimon lunged at his ally, but Apocalymon knocked him away with another claw.

"I guess… this wasn't… the best idea…" Piedmon gasped, "But you know what they say… if at first you don't succeed…"

"Seraphim no!" The three councilmen yelled once they realized what was happening.

"Die!" Apocalymon screamed and crushed Piedmon's body.

"Redefine what you did as success!" Seraphim gasped before his body exploded into thousands of pieces of data.

"All done," Apocalymon whispered.

"Not quite!" Yolei screamed.

"Yolei!" Omnimon silenced her to draw attention away from the vulnerable digidestined. "Not quite!" He snapped at Apocalymon.

"What is that supposed to mean?" The master growled.

"You don't know very much about Piedmon, do you?" Crusadermon asked triumphantly.

"I don't…" A lurch in Apocalymon's gut stopped him from speaking. "What in the name of Yggdrasil…" He doubled over in pain, some unseen force taking over him.

"You may be all powerful Apocalymon," Omnimon glared, "But you're still a digimon like any other, which makes you susceptible to the techniques that Piedmon learned in the digital core."

"Digital core!" Apocalymon screamed mostly out of pain. His head then began to vibrate quickly, and a second later Apocalymon had dropped to where his knees should have been and breathed heavily.

"Run." Piedmon instructed them.

"Don't do this Seraphim." Someone protested.

"I don't have much of a choice now do I?" He chuckled. A pain in his thigh signaled that Apocalymon was trying to regain control.

"We can find another way." Said Saka.  
"We really can't." Piedmon replied. "This data field around us: it contains the entire third plane, maybe even all of the digital world. It won't break on its own, but if I destroy it than the data can re-settle and fix itself."

"How do you know?" GoldenRapidmon inquired.

"I'm a part of Apocalymon now." Piedmon answered.

"I'm so sorry this had to happen." Omnimon said in reluctant acceptance.

"It's okay, now run." Piedmon barked. "Get as far away from here as you can, past the data field. I'll hold off and give you as much time as possible."

"Thank you Seraphim." Crusadermon spoke.

"Go!" He ordered. The others complied. The digidestiend/Royal Knights flew through the air back in the direction they came, and escaped through the hole that Paladin had made back to the rock they had started out on.

"I should have just stayed in that freaking grotto." Piedmon struggled to say. "Total Annihilation!" With that, the pent up energy inside of Apocalymon exploded and both he and Piedmon were no more. The energy shock waved through space and severed the data field that contained some unknown bulk of the digital world.

"Damn him…" Paladin said from their fortified rock.

After only a few seconds, the explosion ended. The shock wave disappeared, and the sound faded away into the deepest reaches of space. Once over, the destined looked on at the aftermath of the explosion. A googolplex of data flakes were slowly rotating through the air, now in no particular order. Some were clumping together, others layering into a ground. Soon, the digital world would be reformed and everything would be back to normal.

"He did it." Omnimon commented as the lot of them stood on the rock.

"He stopped Apocalymon." Paladin sighed.

"But he did cause them to come back." Zoe reasoned.

"Piedmon said the Dark Masters had an outside accomplice: someone who created the Dark Beacon, opened the portals out of the Dark Plane, and created that mountain that disrupted us on our travels. He was just their tool at first: they would have come back anyway."

"What's that?" Puppetmon pointed into the air. The group looked up to see a long tube snaking across the sky. Upon further inspection they saw that it was a system of tubes webbing around the entire sky.

"It's the data streams." GoldenRapidmon answered. "Now that there's no physical digital world they're visible to the naked eye." After his statement, an entire tube to their left exploded and disappeared. "Uh oh."

"What's happening?" Koichi panicked.

"No…" Craniamon whispered, "The explosion, it must have shattered the data streams. They won't last much longer."

"What does that mean?" Asked Kazu.

"It means we have to get you home: now." Omnimon announced.

They were off once again. Zudomon shepherded the digidestined up to the highest data stream tube, where the massive bubble that was the hub between the digital world and the internet was located. They stopped just below the entrance to the hub, where part of the surface of the tube was shattered and offered an entrance into the stream.

"Time to go," Omnimon spoke, and then held his hands to his chest, focusing to remove two spirits from within his body. He unleashed them and a second later Matt and Tai stood in a daze before him. The other Royal Knights did this as well, releasing Rika, Izzy, Kari, T.K., Eric, and Ken.

"Omnimon what's going on?" Tai asked in a daze.

"The data streams that connect the human and digital worlds are crumbling due to Apocalymon's explosion. If you don't return home now, you might be trapped here forever.

"But we can't leave you like this." Matt protested.

"We don't have much of a choice." Omnimon sighed. "I'm so sorry." Everyone said a quick goodbye, and then the digidestined began to file into the data stream tube to prepare to travel into the hub. It was just about to burst, signaling the entrance to the internet.

"Any electric device should open a wormhole to the human world once you guys are inside," Said GoldenRapidmon, "Use Eric's phone or Izzy's laptop and you'll make it back fine."

"I'm sorry we have to part like this, but it's for your benefit that you return to your world before it's too late." Said Omnimon.

"Will we ever see you again?" Kari asked sadly.

"I'm sure of it," Crusadermon answered, "But for now, this is the way it has to be. Goodbye." With a wave from all of the partner digimon, the last human slipped into the data stream, and they were all dragged into the central hub. Once there, the hub exploded and the destined filed into the internet. Izzy manipulated his computer, and a wormhole to the other side opened up. The destined then solemnly marched into the wormhole, expecting to see each other on the other side.

A bright light shone in Tai's face. He covered his face with his arm, and then realized he was asleep. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a forest. A beam of morning light had penetrated the canopy and was shining in his face.

"Oh God not this place again." He moaned, thinking he was in the File Island forest.

"Tai!" Kari called to him, marching through the trees towards him. He stood up and hugged his sister.

"Where are we?" He asked.

"It's the forest, right near our park: don't you recognize it?" Kari inquired.

"Oh, right. I guess we're back." He said bitter sweetly.

"Where are the others?" Kari asked.

"I guess the wormhole returned them to where they first came to the digital world from." Tai speculated. "We should probably try to get into contact with them though, just to be safe."

"Yeah," Kari said as the same solemn truth hit her as well. They had abruptly left the digital world and barely had time to say goodbye to their friends. And they weren't sure if Crusadermon was sincere when she said they would see each other again, or had just given them false hope.

"Tai!"

"Kari!"

"Taichi Kamiya!" Suddenly, they realized that voices in the woods were calling their names.

"Is someone looking for us?" Kari inquired.

"Oh crap!" Tai exclaimed. "We've been gone for 16 hours real world time. We never came home last night; our parents must be worried sick!"

"Oh… how are we going to explain where we were?"

"We could always tell them the truth." Tai said with a smile on his face. Kari giggled, and together they walked towards the call of their mother, father, and their family friends the Matsukis, pondering how they were going to explain themselves, but mainly their thoughts were filled with memories of their digimon partners, and the horrors and ultimate triumphs they had faced in such a short time. Would they see each other again? Tai and Kari didn't know. But the future held many secrets, and Tai and Kari were willing to bet that their adventure with the Digimon wasn't over.

**Epilogue**

The woods were alive. Life on File Island was bustling. A gang of Elecmon frolicked through the grass, leading the baby digimon on towards the cafeteria in the middle of Primary Village. With new hope instilled in the inhabitants of the digital world, the future was looking bright. Digimon were marching through the forest, confident that an evil demon wasn't about to jump out and burn them or something or other. Citizens of the metropolis confidently marched out of their houses to work on their farms, without the looming shadow of the citadel over them. Sepikmon authorized nearly every budged request that came through his office. After all, it was a time to celebrate.

But things were not as great as the inhabitants would have liked to believe. As the frolicking Elecmon and baby digimon bounded out of the fields of digimon eggs and into the main center of Primary Village, a dark figure stepped quietly out of the woods. Blue hair, orange vest, and brown pants, the figure was shrouded in a dark veil, making his facial figures difficult to determine. But his disturbing persona was not nearly as worrisome as his task.

Marching softly across the fields, the human child held his palm out to feel for the right egg. Using a new sense granted to him by a mysterious power, he could detect the best vessel for what he was about to release.

He found it too. A pair of twin digi-eggs leaned next to each other was the boy's target. He quietly slipped over to them, and after carefully weighing which was better calmly placed his palm over the right egg. His influence was barely noticeable, but some of the darkness covering him snaked over the egg and then phased into it. His job done, the boy set the egg down and walked back to the woods, as quietly as he came. Then he stopped. He spotted a tree a short distance away from him in the woods.

He hated it. He didn't know why. It was like all of the other trees. All he knew was that it didn't need to be there. He walked up to it and placed his palm against the trunk. His dark veil began to snake into it. Within the minute the leaves of the tree withered and died, and after that the trunk caved inward, the life giving liquids within it gone. Satisfied, he carried on.

They're all going to pay, thought Henry Wong, I'll make sure of it.

...


End file.
